GERMAN    LEADERS    of 
YESTERDAY  and  TO-DAY 


BY 


ERIC  DOMBROWSKI 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  LONDON 

1920 


COPYRIGHT,  1920,  BY 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


PRINTED   IN  TITE  UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
SANTA  BARBARA 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.   Octavio,  Baron  Von  Seidlitz  und  Neukirk 1 

II.    Fkiedrich  Ebert   8 

III.  ERICH  LUDENDORFF 16 

IV.  Theodor  Wolff  30 

V.   Mathias  Erzbergeb   36 

VI.   Georg  Ledebour 48 

VII.   Ernst  Von  Heydebrand  und  der  Laase 54 

VIII.   Alfred  Von  Tirpitz 60 

IX.    Friedrich  Xaumann 73 

X.   Wilhelm  II 79 

XL   Clemens  Delbbuck 92 

XII.   Hermann  Pachnicke 99 

XIII.  Octo  Hammann  103 

XIV.  Adolph  Hoffmann  110 

XV.   Hellmut  Von  Gerlach 119 

XVI.   Karl  Theodor  Helfferich 124 

XVII.   Philip  Scheidemann  135 

XVIII.   Hermann  Paasche  141 

XIX.   Hans  Delbruck 147 

XX.   Theobald  Von  Bethmann-Hollweg 151 

XXI.   Minna  Cauer 158 

XXII.    Paul  Lensch   164 

XXIII.  Ernst  Graf  zu  Peventlow 169 

XXIV.  Georg  Michaelis 176 

XXV.   Gustav  Stresemann 1S3 

XXVI.   LoraAR  Persius 191 

XXVII.   Friedrich  Von  Pater 198 

XXVIII.   Kuno  Graf  Von  Westarp 205 

XXIX.  Hugo  Haase  210 

XXX.   Wilhelm  Von  Waldow 218 

XXXI.   Richard  Von  Kuhlmann 825 

v 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXXII.   Paul  Fuhrmann  231 

XXXIII.  Geobg  Graf  Von  Hertling 238 

XXXIV.  Robert  Friedberg   246 

XXXV.   Hans  Georg  Von  Beebfelde 252 

XXXVI.  Paul  Von  Hintze 262 

XXXVII.  Rosa  Luxembubg 271 

XXXVIII.  Maximilian  Von  Baden 277 

XXXIX.  Kubt  Eisneb 285 

XL.  Vwliielm  Kabl  Dittmann 294 

XLI.  Adolph  Gboebeb 299 

XLII.  Emil  Eichhorn  304 

XLIII.  Kabl  Liebnecht 310 

XLIV.  Walter  Adrian  Schucking 320 

XLV.  Gustav  Noske  328 


VI 


1 


GERMAN  LEADERS  of 
YESTERDAY  and  TODAY 


OCTAVIO,  BAEON  VON  ZEDLITZ  UKD  NEUKIRCH 

The  political  activity  of  Octavio,  Baron  von  Zedlitz 
und  Neukirch,  dates  back  to  the  time  when  Prussia 
consisted  of  the  Rhine  provinces,  the  Altmark,  and 
East  Elbia.  He  was  horn  in  Glatz  in  1840,  the  year 
of  Friedrich  Wilhelm  Ill's  death.  His  father  was 
president  of  the  Royal  Prussian  Government.  The 
son  arrived  at  a  lesser  station  in  life  but  nevertheless 
enjoyed  great  political  influence.  He  and  Prussia  grew 
up  together,  but  at  heart  he  represented  the  old  Prussia. 
Now  that  Monarchism,  with  an  audible  jerk,  turned 
onto  new  tracks,  Octavio,  the  knightly  old  champion, 
laid  his  tired  body  upon  the  sick-bed.  With  Hebbel's 
Master  Anton  he  sighed  resignedly: 

"  I  no  longer  understand  the  world  whose  political 
bumps  I  have  tried  to  smooth  with  cunning  compro- 
mises for  so  many  decades.  Now  it  is  everything  or 
nothing,  just  like  the  battlefield  under  cannon  fire,  equal 
suffrage  or  the  iron  rod.    What  have  I  to  do  with  that  ? 

"  After  all,  I  have  the  right  to  get  tired.  I  have  had 
a  turn  at  every  office  and  have  become  a  political  fac- 
totum.   I  still  remember  passing  my  state  examination 

1 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY" 

for  the  bar,  and  that,  immediately  thereafter,  I  was 
sent  upon  an  official  mission  abroad.  Those  were  years 
in  which  the  fate  of  the  European  continent  was 
gambled  for.  In  1864  I  was  appointed  to  the  Prussian 
Civil  Commission  in  the  annexed  Duchies  of  Elbia. 
Ach !  and  two  years  later  the  merry  war  with  Austria ! 
In  Koniggratz  they  picked  up  the  badly  wounded, 
smart,  young,  militia  officer  from  the  battlefield.  Yes. 
And  when  I  was  well  again  I  began  slowly,  slowly, 
year  by  year,  to  tread  the  traditional,  bureaucratic, 
seniority  march :  Eirst  assessor,  then  sheriff  in  Sagan. 
Then  came  a  sudden  pause.  War  with  France  mixed 
everything  in  a  mess.  To  be  sure,  when  I  think  of  it, 
it  was  but  a  child's  game  compared  to  the  present.  All 
at  once  I  was  Under-prefect  in  San  Quentin.  I  wonder 
if  the  old  house  is  there?  I  don't  suppose  so.  The 
bullets  will  have  razed  it  to  the  ground  along  with  all 
the  rest.  But  what's  the  difference?  Live  stock  and 
dead,  whole  generations  are  rooted  out,  stock  and 
branch,  and  we  old  fellows  have  nothing  better  to  do 
than  to  lay  the  rest  of  our  petty  existences  under  the 
scythe  as  soon  as  possible. 

"  In  those  days  life  had  just  begun  for  me.  Bis- 
marck was  building  the  new  nation  with  broad  sweeps 
and  I  was  permitted  to  sit  in  his  shadow  and  help.  The 
district  of  Sagan-Sprottan  sent  me  to  the  Reichstag; 
I  took  my  seat  there  on  the  Conservative  bench.    But  I 

2 


BAROX  YON  ZEDLITZ  UND  NEUKIRCH 

did  not  belong  to  the  malcontents  while  the  Iron  Man 
was  carrying  on  his  liberal  policy.  He  had  a  fine  scent 
for  such  things  and  one  day  I  exchanged  my  Landsrat 
office  for  a  post  as  assistant  in  the  chancelry.  My  ac- 
tivity in  the  Reichstag  was  at  an  end,  and  after  that 
I  only  ran  for  the  Prussian  House  of  Representatives. 
I  was  loyal  to  this  from  1876  to  the  last.  Then  I 
entered  the  Board  of  Trade.  In  between  lay  a  long, 
long,  period  of  parliamentary  strivings,  fore  and  aft 
the  wings,  always  compromising,  always  welcomed  by 
all  parties  and  members  of  the  Government.  I  knew 
the  people.  I  saw  kings  come  and  go,  systems  and 
tendencies  change,  ministers  and  privy  councillors,  rep- 
resentatives and  voters,  and,  at  last,  I  saw  that  every- 
thing was  cooked  with  water,  thin  water;  the  most 
clever  politics  were  muddied  by  personal  ambitions  and 
material  yearnings.  I  sought  for  a  compromise  and 
they  called  me  Octavio,  the  Half-dark. 

"  Gradually  I  began  to  like  these  twilight  politics. 
Especially  after  Stumm  and  Kardoff  departed  this  life 
and  I  became  indisputable  tactician  at  the  head  of  the 
Free  Conservative  party.  Our  party  lived  on  the  dis- 
unity of  the  others,  but  you  must  not  scold  me  for  be- 
ing a  political  wash-rag  because  I  and  my  party  were 
ever  ready  for  compromise.  I  enjoyed  my  life  as  every- 
one else,  liked  my  beer  and  loved  my  wine,  was  not 
entirely  oblivious  to  the  tender  passion.     Naturally  I 

3 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

have  had  misfortunes  in  my  private  life,  too.  And  yon 
know  I  have  not  hidden  myself  behind  the  bushes 
like  Adam  while  the  public  asked,  '  Octavio,  where  art 
thou  ? '  It  was  really  a  heavy  blow  to  me  when  my 
eon  played  that  silly,  student  trick  in  Leipzig.  You 
remember  it  was  in  some  wine-room  not  far  from  the 
Bavarian  station  that  he  shot  his  sweetheart,  a  bar- 
maid, in  a  fit  of  jealousy.  But,  he  went  to  America 
as  correspondent  of  the  Berliner  Anzeiger  and  became 
a  good,  steady-going  fellow  who  earned  his  living  like 
everyone  else. 

"  Excuse  me,  I  digress.  I  was  to  speak  of  politics. 
Where  was  I?  Oh,  yes,  political  wash-rags.  That 
was  certainly  not  my  failing.  I  was  just  made  presi- 
dent of  the  Sea  Board  of  Trade  when  that  abominable 
canal  project  was  brought  up  before  the  Landtag.  The 
Conservatives  were  against  it.  The  Kaiser  declared  in 
an  almost  autocratic  tone:  'It  shall  be  built!'  But 
the  Conservatives  would  not  bend.  I  was  one  of  those 
rebels,  like  Dallwitz,  Jagow,  and  so  on,  who  were  pushed 
out  of  office  by  an  angry  Government.  The  others 
rallied  long  ago  and  have  since  become  governors,  min- 
isters, presidents,  and  what  not.  And  I?  When  I 
reached  the  age  of  seventy-five,  they  gave  me  the  office 
of  Privy  Councillor  with  the  title  of  Excellency.  I 
never  reentered  the  Government  although  I  had  been 
Billow's  friend  and  assistant;  even  Bethmann-Hollweg 

4 


BARON  VON  ZEDLITZ  UND  NEUKIRCH 

gladly  made  use  of  me,  for  example  at  the  time  of  the 
great  reform  of  the  Prussian  franchise  in  1910,  which 
went  so  well  at  first  on  my  compromise  recipe,  but 
which  failed  at  the  last. 

"Believe  me,  in  June,  1917,  I  had  the  Right,  the 
Middle,  and  even  the  Center  party,  so  far  that  every- 
one was  almost  ready  to  swear  by  my  pretty  plural 
system  plan.  Even  Bethmann-Hollweg  stood  godfather 
and  smiled  benignly  from  a  discreet  distance.  And 
then  —  he  left  us  in  the  lurch  and  proclaimed  equal 
suffrage.  I  was  simply  dumbfounded!  I  couldn't  be- 
lieve it.  *  He  had  a  reliable  majority  for  my  plural 
reform  in  his  pocket,  and  then  to  do  such  a  thing !  But 
quickly  I  got  another  little  compromise  ready  —  and 
then  —  then  —  my  own  party  left  me  in  the  lurch! 
I  was  too  much  Left  for  them  in  this  question.  That 
was  the  heaviest  blow  of  my  life.  I  decided  to  resign 
my  seat  as  leader  of  the  party.  Can  you  possibly 
imagine  what  will  happen  if  the  House  of  Representa-* 
tives  is  really  dissolved?  Is  it  comprehensible?  If 
you  please,  I  still  believe  in  the  old  conservative  dogma, 
that  conservatism  and  Government  are  one  and  the  same 
thing  and  the  only  liberality  permissible  is  that  the 
gentlemen  of  the  Government  may  become  Free  Con- 
servatives if  they  wish.  All  other  politics  are  more 
or  less  suspicious,  the  National  Liberals,  the  Center, 
the  Progressives,  the  Poles,  and  the  Social  Democrats. 

5 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

They  should  be  regarded  only  as  objects  of  administra- 
tion by  the  Government.  At  all  events,  I  have  partici- 
pated with  beating  heart  in  every  exception  and  have 
not  yet  been  converted.  How  often  I  have  sprung  upon 
the  speaker's  platform  when  my  legs  were  still  steady, 
with  my  face  red  from  excitement,  my  bald  head  gleam- 
ing, and  my  still  stately  white  beard  forming  a  dignified 
frame  for  my  words.  I  was  not  an  orator  although  I 
always  spoke  without  notes. 

"  But  I  always  had  the  ear  of  the  House.  My  adjec- 
tivity,  my  rich  experience  in  all  branches  of  Prussian 
administrative  practice  overwhelmed  them.  For  the 
press  I  was  ever  the  political  lexicon.  What  have  I  not 
written  about  in  the  red  Tag?  And  in  the  Post, 
the  chief  organ  of  the  Free  Conservatives?  I  was  al- 
ways the  sign-post  at  every  political  cross-road.  And 
now  that  is  supposed  to  be  all  over.  I  may  not  speak, 
I  may  not  write,  I  may  no  longer  grope  along  hidden 
paths,  I  may  only  lie  in  bed  counting  over  the  years  of 
my  life,  or  whatever  else  the  doctor  allows.  If  you  look 
out  of  the  window  at  Prinz-Albrecht  Strasse  you  will 
see  there,  and  everywhere  else,  another  sick  man  whose 
heart  is  beginning  to  falter  and  whose  feet  are  begin- 
ning to  swell.  His  name  is  Prussia.  And  the  doctor 
who  administers  his  medicine  is  Democracy.  I  suspect 
Bernard  Shaw  was  not  so  far  wrong  when  he  wrote 
that  satire,   The  Doctor's  Dilemma.     l  Every  doctor 

6 


baron  von  zedlitz  TJXD  neukirch 

is  ten  times  and  a  hundred  times  over  a  murderer.  I 
would  like  to  think  that  people  and  the  whole  world 
would  suddenly  recover  if  we  did  away  with  doctors.' 
And  perhaps  politicians,  too! 

"  Excuse  me  if  I  turn  over  on  the  other  side  in 
disgust." 

The  old  God  of  the  Prussians  took  pity  upon  His 
servant,  and  when  the  revolution  shook  the  temple  of 
Prussianism  to  its  very  foundation,  he  said  to  his  tired, 
and  bewildered  believer,  "Get  thee  hence,  son,  and  join 
thy  forbears,  for  here  is  no  longer  a  place  for  thee !  " 


II 

FKIEDRICH  EBERT 

I  made  the  acquaintance  of  Friedrich  Ebert  at  a 
reception  given  by  the  German  Society,  to  which  I  was 
invited  by  Dr.  Self,  then  Secretary  of  the  Colonies. 
A  middle-sized  gentleman  with  a  leaning  toward  corpu- 
lency, who  makes  little  of  formality ;  unpretentious,  but 
not  laying  his  innermost  soul  bare  for  the  crowd  to  gape 
at.  He  is  very  friendly,  very  amiable  and  obliging,  but 
a  thin  veil  separates  him  from  the  others.  He  is  one 
who  reflects  without  brooding,  one  who  is  ready  to  back 
his  words  with  deeds,  to  help  when  necessary;  a  hand- 
worker, a  saddler;  a  master  who  knows  his  public  and 
the  people;  one  who  has  been  pushed  to  the  front  line 
of  politics  by  four  turbulent  years  of  war,  who  daily 
recognizes  how  little  brain  matter  is  applied  to  so-called 
world  politics.  He  saw  them  all  come  and  go,  Bethmann- 
Hollweg,  Delbriick,  Herfferich,  Jagow,  Michaelis,  Zim- 
mermann,  Hertling,  and  Hintze,  people  and  little 
people  with  trembling  hands  and  mysterious  counte- 
nances, supported  by  dusty  records,  gently  infusing  their 
political  wisdom  into  the  representatives.  How  many 
times  he  was  called  even  late  at  night,  as  leader  of  the 

& 


FRIEDRICH  EBERT 

Social  Democrats,  to  the  Chancellor's  palace  for  a  con- 
sultation with  Mr.  Chancellor. 

And  he  saw  them  all,  the  Government  people  with 
the  Kaiser  at  their  head  —  the  Kaiser  grown  so  very 
small  before  the  threatening  course  of  events  —  saw 
them  wooing  the  favor  of  the  Social  Democrats,  this 
"  rabble  of  rogues  without  a  country."  And  he  thought 
his  own  thoughts. 

He  was  born  at  Heidelberg  and  existed  in  the  days 
when  all  Germany  was  rejoicing  at  the  victory  over 
France,  when  flags  waved  from  every  house  in  honor 
of  the  new,  imperialistic  German  nation  which  arose 
at  Versailles.  Friedrich  grew  up  without  any  particu- 
lar interruption,  in  humble  circumstances,  in  an  almost 
proletarian  narrowness.  His  father  was  one  of  those 
superfluous  men  whose  gray  and  sordid  lives  consist  only 
of  work.  The  mother  was  like  all  mothers  in  narrow 
streets  and  crooked  courts,  shawl  on  head,  old  and  care- 
worn. Friedrich  went  to  the  public  school  and  at  four- 
teen was  apprenticed  to  a  saddler.  The  world  about 
him  was  so  beautiful ;  the  Black  Forest,  the  !N~eckar,  the 
Ottheinrichsbau,  the  exuberant  students;  while  he  be- 
longed to  the  "  disinherited."  He  felt  himself  drawn 
to  the  outcasts  of  society,  to  the  despised  ones  of  the 
earth.  Greedily  he  devoured  the  papers,  the  circulars 
Becretly  passed  from  hand  to  hand,  and  while  reading 
and  learning  he  filled  his  soul  with  socialistic  ideals. 

0 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Suddenly  the  bars  were  down.  Bismarck  was  de- 
prived of  office,  must  leave  the  Chancellor's  palace 
within  a  few  hours  after  thirty-eight  years  of  service 
as  president  of  the  Prussian  ministry,  as  Federal  and 
Imperial  Chancellor.  The  Kaiser  insisted.  He  could 
no  longer  resist  taking  the  reins  of  the  Government  in 
his  own  hands.  The  law  against  Socialists  fell  with  the 
Iron  Man.  The  February  concessions  seemed  to  intro- 
duce a  new  era.  A  mental  April  storm  swept  the  land. 
Even  Ebert  was  infected.  The  way  was  open  now,  one- 
could  work  and  fight  openly  for  the  ideals  of  Social 
Democracy. 

Friedrich's  wander  years  ended  in  Bremen;  he  swam 
to  the  top  with  his  fresh,  pulsing,  southern  blood,  and 
became  editor  of  the  Bremer  Burgerzeitung.  Years 
passed  quietly  by.  He  was  elected  to  membership  and 
gradually  worked  his  way  up  to  the  secretaryship  of 
the  party.  Five  years  later  he  was  president  of  the 
Center  for  Working  Youths  and  a  member  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  whole  party.  He  looked  strange 
among  all  those  blond  and  brown  comrades.  A  south 
German  with  Roman  blood?  Perhaps.  His  tempera- 
ment was  thoughtful  and  yet  energetic  when  occasion 
required.     He  was  great  at  organization,  his  long  suit. 

He  came  into  Parliament  at  the  Xonigsplatz  in  1912, 
with  the  socialistic  wave  of  that  time.  He  was  elected 
from    Elberf eld-Barmen,    Scheidemann's    neighboring- 

10 


FRIEDRICH  EBERT 

district.  Scheidemann  and  Ebert  soon  became  good 
friends.  When  war  broke  out  they  both  supported  the 
Government  and  were  true  to  Bethmann-Hollweg  for 
three  years.  They  were  not  backward  in  acknowledging 
the  "  spirit  of  August  4th,  1914,"  when  the  radicals 
began  to  bluster  and  swagger  around  the  party,  nor  even 
when  Haase,  who  was  chairman,  unrolled  the  flag  of 
rebellion.  Quarrels  and  scenes  took  place  within  their 
four  walls  and  outside  in  the  forum  of  the  Reichstag. 
The  Labor  party  split,  Haase  was  dethroned,  Ebert,  his 
successor,  together  with  Scheidemann,  became  the  tar- 
gets for  mockery,  contumely,  and  persecution.  Mem- 
bers of  the  party  tore  each  other  to  pieces  publicly.  The 
last  bridges  to  an  understanding  seemed  to  be  destroyed. 
The  majority  of  Social  Democrats  stuck  to  the  Progres- 
sives and  the  Center  in  order  to  accomplish  any  prac- 
tical, positive  work.  Ebert,  alone,  did  not  give  up  hope 
of  a  reconciliation.  In  the  meantime  he  became  chair- 
man of  the  all-powerful  faction  in  the  Reichstag  and 
presided  with  a  dignity  and  reserve  that  won  the  recog- 
nition of  his  opponents.  When  the  Prince  took  over  the 
office  of  Chancellor  after  the  resignation  of  Hertling,  he 
consulted  Ebert;  the  two  understood  one  another  at  a 
time  when  the  catastrophe  was  no  longer  to  be  averted. 
Ebert  was  secretary  of  the  first  cabinet  to  be  appointed 
under  the  parliamentary  regime,  but  he  withdrew  at 
the  last  moment,  giving  Scheidemann,  Bauer  and  David 

11 


LEADERS  OF.  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY; 

tlie  preference.  The  party  seemed  of  more  importance 
to  him,  the  party  which  was  stripped  of  all  her 
leaders.  He  waited.  Instinctively  he  felt  what  was 
coming. 

It  came  on  Thursday,  the  7th  of  November,  1918. 
The  revolutionary  movement,  beginning  at  Kiel,  spread 
like  lightning  all  over  the  nation.  Sailors  had  sent  their 
emissaries  to  all  four  points  of  the  wind  and  the  old 
regime  capitulated  almost  without  a  struggle.  Only 
the  Kaiser,  who  had  left  Berlin  in  time,  was  hard  of 
Hearing.  At  this  moment  Prince  Max  invited  Ebert 
to  a  conference  with  him.  "  I  will  go  to  Headquarters 
this  very  evening  to  induce  the  Kaiser  to  abdicate," 
said  the  Prince.  "  In  that  event  we  can  save  every- 
thing." Ebert,  who  like  Scheidemann  had  threatened 
the  withdrawal  of  the  party  from  the  Government,  now 
promised  to  do  his  utmost  to  get  the  party  and  the 
masses  to  wait.  But  he  promised  too  much.  Events 
were  already  too  far  advanced.  Almost  the  whole  na- 
tion was  in  revolution;  only  Berlin  was  quiet.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  same  day,  just  as  the  Prince  was  mak- 
ing ready  for  the  journey,  Ebert  appeared  in  the  house 
at  Wilhelmstrasse  77,  and  handed  over  the  ultimatum 
of  the  Social  Democrats.  The  die  was  cast.  "That 
compels  me,"  the  Prince  answered  resignedly,  "  to  hand 
in  my  resignation,  for  it  means  the  overthrow  of  my 
policy  of  persuasion,  not  force." 

12 


FRIEDRICH  EBERT 

Although  the  Social  Democrats  postponed  their  ulti- 
matum at  the  last  moment,  the  revolution  broke  out  in 
Berlin.  I  still  saw  the  old  regime's  armored  trucks 
whizzing  through  the  ill-lighted  streets  on  Friday  night 
looking  for  the  "  inner  foe."  After  the  proclamation 
of  a  general  strike  on  Saturday,  the  9th  of  November, 
I  saw  the  workmen  and  soldiers  marching  through  the 
streets  unfurling  their  red  flags;  I  saw  them  tearing 
the  epaulettes  and  cockades  from  their  comrades'  shoul- 
ders; I  heard  shots,  the  rattling  of  machine  guns,  and 
I  saw  Adolph  Hoffman  and  Ledebour  making  wild 
speeches  in  wagons  surrounded  by  a  howling  throng  of 
youths;  I  heard  Scheidemann's  voice  from  the  balcony 
of  the  Reichstag  building.  It  was  like  colored  films 
whizzing  past. 

Everything  seemed  a  chaos.  The  only  peaceful  spot 
was  Ebert.  A  new  era  had  entered  on  the  wings  of  a 
storm.  The  card  house  of  the  old  regime  had  collapsed. 
The  saddler,  Friedrich  Ebert,  lifted  the  new  Germany 
into  the  saddle.  Sunday  morning  early  newspapers  and 
bill-boards  announced  Ebert's  first  manifest:  Peace, 
Freedom,  and  Order.  Cooperation  with  other  parties 
was  made  impossible  by  the  resistance  of  the  Independ- 
ents. Thousands  thronged  about  the  Chancellor's  pal- 
ace on  Sunday  morning.  x\t  last  the  new,  purely  social- 
istic Government  was  born.  Six  men  divided  the  Chan- 
cellor's   portfolio:    three    Social    Democrats:    Ebert, 

13 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 

Scheidemann,  Landsberg;  and  three  Independents: 
Haase,  Dittmann  and  Earth.  Unity  had  again  been 
established.  But  hourly  new  differences  arose:  argu- 
ments with  the  executive  committees  of  the  Workmen 
and  Soldiers'  Councils,  with  the  Spartacists,  with  Lieb- 
knecht  and  Rosa  Luxembourg.  Ebert  held  fast  to  demo- 
cratic principles  and  was  against  any  dictation  by  the 
proletariat.  Those  from  the  other  socialistic  side  were 
of  another  opinion.  They  wished  to  have  at  least  a 
part  of  the  socialistic  program  realized  before  the 
National  Convention. 

The  sailors  who  had  placed  themselves  at  the  service 
of  the  revolution  and  who  had  taken  up  comfortable 
quarters  in  the  palace,  protested  against  being  turned 
out  by  the  Government.  On  the  day  before  Christmas 
eve  it  became  a  street  fight.  "  Bloodhound  Ebert," 
screamed  the  radicals,  "  shoots  down  the  people."  Ebert 
in  dismay  capitulated  to  the  marines.  Anarchistic  radi- 
calism, led  by  Liebknecht,  spread  rapidly.  It  threat- 
ened to  devour  Berlin  and  all  Germany.  A  new  reck- 
oning came.  In  Berlin  the  battle  lasted  seven  days. 
The  Ebert-Scheidemann  Government  battled  for  its 
existence  and  Ebert  for  his  head.  The  victory  was 
theirs.  The  election  of  the  National  Assembly  was 
accomplished. 

And  the  cabinet  laid  the  portfolio  in  the  hands  of 
the  new  Parliament. 

14 


FRIEDRICH  EBERT 

When,  on  February  6,  1919,  the  Xational  Assembly 
•convened  at  Weimar,  Ebert  read  the  report  on  the 
political  situation,  the  house  rushed  through  the  adop- 
tion of  an  emergency  constitution,  and  against  the  votes 
of  the  parties  of  the  Right  and  those  of  the  radical 
Social  Democrats  Ebert  was  elected  provisional  Presi- 
dent of  the  German  Republic.  Removed  from  the  stage 
of  parliamentary  life,  he  began,  in  a  quiet  and  unassum- 
ing way,  a  new  activity  behind  the  curtains.  Only  once 
lie  stepped  forth  again,  when  during  May  of  the  same 
year  the  Entente  made  known  the  terms  of  peace.  Then 
he  denounced  these  terms  and  wanted  to  resign  from 
office.  He  lived  through  hours  of  doubt  and  despon- 
dency. The  Democrats  left  the  Coalition  Cabinet  in 
June.  The  responsibility  for  fixing  the  official  signa- 
tures to  the  peace  document  rested  alone  of  all  parties 
with  the  Centrists  and  the  Majority  Socialists.  Ebert 
hesitated,  wavered.  Should,  or  should  he  not,  desert  his 
post  ?  But  to  desert  then  would  simply  mean  calling  in 
chaos.    And  so  he  stayed. 


ni 

ERICH  LUDENDORFF 


The  General's  Tragedy,"  or  "In  Disgrace"  a  film 
in  eight  pictures.  Paul  Wegener  as  Ludendorff. 
Music  furnished  by  the  Lower.  Rhine  Infantry 
Band,  Regiment  39. 


A  musical  potpourri  ushers  in  the  evening.  It  con- 
tains all  the  patriotic  songs  "  Lieb'  Vaterland,  magst 
ruhig  sein,"  "  Deutschland,  Deutschland  iiber  alles," 
"  Was  blasen  die  Trompeten,  Husaren  heraus !  "  The 
overture  is  over.  The  room  is  suddenly  darkened. 
Ludendorff' s  portrait  appears,  enormously  enlarged,  on 
the  canvas.  A  bulky  face.  Fleshy  and  dull.  Wrinkles 
like  scars  on  the  facade.  A  small,  stiff  mustache  hesi- 
tatingly adorns  the  upper  lip.  The  hair  flows  backward 
from  an  imposing  brow.  It  is  but  a  sparse  plain.  The 
eyes  look  defiant,  almost  gloomy.  Personified  Will  and 
Ambition  veiled  in  an  artificial  fog  of  self-confidence. 
The  picture  vanishes  as  quickly  as  it  appeared  The 
real  play  begins : 


16 


ERICH  LUDEXDORFF 

FIRST  PICTURE 

Rustling  beech  forests,  calm  lakes,  and  the  ocean  not 
far  away:  Holsteinische,  Switzerland.  In  1877,  at 
twelve  years  of  age,  Erich  Ludendorff  entered  the  Cadet 
school  at  Plon.  He  was  to  enter  the  fifth  class  but  was 
found  advanced  enough  for  the  under  third.  When  the 
teacher  asked  him  about  his  parents  he  proudly  related 
an  almost  romantic  tale. 

"  My  father,"  he  said,  "  owned  an  estate  in  Krus- 
zewnia  by  Schwersenz  in  the  district  of  Posen.  Later 
he  removed  to  Pommern.  Our  family  tree  reaches  far 
back.  My  forefathers  were  Pomeranian  merchants 
who  could  trace  their  ancestry  back  to  that  passionate 
and  criminal  king  of  Sweden,  Erich  XIV,  and  his  mis- 
tress, Agda  Pehrsdotter.  My  mother  was  a  von  Tem- 
pelhoff,  daughter  of  an  old  warrior  family;  her  father 
was  prominent  in  two  campaigns,  her  great-grand- 
father was  the  General  Georg  Friedrich  von  Tempel- 
hoff  who  was  equally  valued  as  a  mathematician  and 
as  a  militarist." 

The  youth  was  no  discredit  to  his  family.  He  soon 
became  room  senior  (head  boy).  lie  showed  no  espe- 
cial talent,  only  a  thirst  for  knowledge.  His  first  re- 
port contained  a  remark  painful  for  him:  he  could  not 
maintain  his  dignity.  This  temperament,  the  desire 
tc  command,  remained  with  him. 

Quickly  he  went  from  one  class  to  the  other.    Years 

17 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

passed  by.  He  entered  the  head  military  school,  became 
Second  Lieutenant  of  Infantry,  Regiment  57,  and  had 
to  serve  in  the  fortress  at  Wesel,  a  dreary  and  boring 
service.  Thus  his  life  began  in  drab  monotony  while 
his  breast  was  still  full  of  longing  for  action.  Five 
years  of  this  sameness.  Then  all  at  once  he  was  com- 
manded to  Berlin  to  a  military  gymnasium.  When 
this  ended  he  was  sent  to  the  Second  Marine  Battalion 
in  Wilhelmshaven.  At  the  same  time  his  Lieutenant's 
patent  was  dated  a  year  earlier,  a  sign  that  his  superiors 
valued  him  highly. 

SECOND  PICTUEE 

Usual  military  career.  He  was  sent  for  a  time  to  the 
War  Academy,  learned  the  Russian  language,  and  after 
a  three  years'  course  made  a  trip  through  Russia  with 
the  concurrence  of  the  General  Staff.  Lie  became 
Battalion  Commander,  First  Lieutenant,  and  Chief  of 
the  Division  in  the  General  Staff,  then  Colonel.  From 
1911  to  1913  he  worked  out  the  war  plans  for  the  Ger- 
man army.  Shortly  before  war  broke  out  he  became 
Major  at  Diisseldorf,  but  almost  immediately  afterwards 
Brigadier  General,  then  Major  General  at  Strassburg. 
The  doors  to  glory  were  standing  wide  open.  In  the 
prime  of  life,  at  fifty  years  of  age,  he  climbed  higher 
and  higher  until  he  reached  the  stars. 

In  Liittich  he  obtained  his  first  laurels.     When  the 

18 


ERICH  LUDENDORFF 

attack  on  tlie  fortress  and  advance  of  the  army  threat- 
ened to  go  wrong  lie  took  over  the  brigade  and  found  the 
way  himself,  after  the  pioneers  had  lost  it.  He  pushed 
through  with  the  brigade  and  took  the  fortress.  The 
first  lines  were  broken  and  the  way  to  the  city  seemed 
open.  Early  on  an  August  morning  the  troops  would 
enter.  Ludendorff  drove  on  ahead  in  an  auto  with  his 
Adjutant.  He  entered  sooner  than  his  troops  and  the 
surprised  garrison  surrendered  to  the  two  officers  with- 
out resistance.  The  papers  gave  Emmich  the  credit 
for  the  capture  of  Liittich,  but  it  was  really  Ludendorff 
who  had  also  worked  out  the  plans  for  the  attack.  He 
carried  out  these  plans  with  pluck  and  energy.  The 
Kaiser  was  informed.  Ludendorff  was  placed  on  the 
list  of  exceptions.  It  was  he  who  told  the  monarch 
fourteen  days  later,  when  the  Cossacks  stood  before  the 
gates  of  Konigsberg: 

"  There  is  only  one  who  can  help  us  and  that  is  Hin- 
denburg." 

Ludendorff  was  commissioner  to  fetch  the  old  gen- 
eral A.  D.  from  Hanover  and  go  with  him  to  save  the 
East.  Blow  after  blow  followed,  the  battles  of  Tannen- 
berg,  in  Masuria,  and  on  the  Polish  and  Baltic  fields. 

Ilindenburg  and  Ludendorff  became  the  symbols 
of  victory  for  Germany.  But  even  then  Ludendorff 
reached  out  for  higher  things.  The  military  scale  alone 
was  not  enough  for  him.     The  "  hybris  "  crept  into  his 

19 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

heart,  pride  before  which  the  old  Greeks  shuddered. 
!N"apoleon  I  arose  again.  Ludendorff  reached  out 
after  political  fame.  The  occupied  eastern  territory 
was  now  put  under  military  rule.  Reforms  were  in- 
troduced and  the  souls  of  the  inhabitants  drilled  in 
barrack  style.  Remarkable  that  the  Lithuanians,  the 
Livonians  and  the  Poles  showed  no  understanding  for 
the  Kultur  that  was  to  be  forced  upon  them  for  political 
reasons.  Therefore,  one  must  be  more  strict,  more  com- 
manding. Yes,  this  was  Ludendorff's  eastern  policy; 
simple  and  to  the  point.     But  he  mistook  these  people 

for  his  recruits. 

THIRD  PICTURE 

1916.  The  unfortunate  attack  on  Verdun  and  the 
loss  of  the  Somme  led  to  Falkenhayn's  fall  —  Falken- 
hayn,  the  salon  General.  Only  after  his  departure  was 
the  bad  condition  of  the  army  found  out.  LudendorfT 
finally  went  to  the  Kaiser  and  said :  "  If  Falkenhayn 
is  not  deprived  of  the  leadership,  the  army  will  be  de- 
moralized within  a  few  months."  Hindenburg  had 
wanted  to  say  it  but  could  not  bring  himself  to  com- 
plain to  the  Kaiser.  Ludendorff  did  it.  The  two 
now  took  charge  of  the  whole  army.  Useless  assaults 
and  obstinate  defenses  merely  for  the  sake  of  honor 
were  abandoned.  An  elastic  scheme  of  defense  was 
now  employed,  LudendorfFs  patent.  The  soldiers 
heaved  a  sigh  of  relief.     What  a  senseless,  even  crini- 

20 


ERICH  LUDE^TDOR^I, 

inal  waste  of  men  had  been  going  on.  But  that  was 
not  all.  Ludendorff  did  away  with  bureaucracy  in  the 
trenches.  Other  generals  replaced  their  own  mental 
work  by  ordering  reports,  covering  their  mistakes  with 
documents.  Ludendorff  saw  that  this  was  a  waste  of 
time  for  company  and  battery  leaders.  A  new  spirit 
had  descended  upon  the  earth. 

FOURTH  PICTURE 

Ludendorff  developed  in  great  style  from  Quarter- 
master General  to  politician.  Mr.  Bethmann-Hollweg 
was  gradually  pushed  to  the  wall.  The  political  child- 
ishness which  was  to  lead  Germany  to  the  brink  of  ruin 
began  in  Poland.  Roumania  then  entered  the  war ;  the 
situation  was  critical.  "New  armies  must  be  conjured 
out  of  the  earth.  Poland  must  furnish  one.  As  a  re- 
ward she  was  to  have  national  freedom,  i.  e.,  what 
Ludendorff  understood  as  such.  The  double  proclama- 
tion of  November  5,  1916,  followed.  Poland  was  made 
an  independent  kingdom  —  without  a  king!  Come 
across  with  your  soldiers  now,  was  the  command.  Ac- 
tivists advised  and  implored  them  to  leave  the  recruit- 
ing of  a  Polish  army  to  them  and  the  Polish  Govern- 
ment. The  Pole  was  skeptical.  Ludendorff  understood 
the  psychology  of  the  people  better.  He  commanded, 
ordered  the  recruiting  in  Poland,  invested  German  mili- 
tary stations  with  the  necessary  authority,  and  the  re- 

21 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

suit  was  —  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  recruits  for  the 
new  Polish  army.  Another  version  gives  three  hundred 
and  nineteen  as  the  result.  Of  course  Bethmann-Holl- 
weg  got  the  blame  —  publicly  at  any  rate.  It  was  he 
who  fought  the  U-boat  war  from  week  to  week  and 
month  to  month,  because  he  feared  America's  entrance 
in  the  war. 

But  the  marine  bureau  insisted  and  pulled  the  wires. 
Confidential  circulars  were  published  prophesying  Eng- 
land's down-fall  within  a  certain  time  if  submarine  war- 
fare was  introduced.  The  Alldeutschers,  Conservatives 
and  National  Liberals  began  to  shower  Ludendorfr"  and 
Hindenburg  with  thousands  of  greetings  and  resolu- 
tions against  the  slip-shod  Government.  HelfTerich  suc- 
cumbed first  to  the  U-boat  hypnosia,  then  Ludendorfr", 
who  set  the  pace  for  everything,  and  the  Chancellor  had 
to  submit.  On  the  first  of  February,  when  the  unre- 
stricted warfare  was  announced,  the  following  "  Most 
High  "  command  was  issued  to  the  navy : 

"  In  the  impending  battles  it  is  the  duty  of  lly  navy 
to  use  the  English  method  of  starvation,  by  means  of 
which  your  most  vindictive  and  stubborn  foe  thinks  to 
force  Germany  to  her  knees.  It  is  your  duty  to  use  this 
method  of  warfare  against  the  sea-trade  of  our  enemies 
with  every  means  at  your  command." 

Ten  months  later  they  were  more  modest  at  chief 
Headquarters.     At  the  beginning  of  December  of  the 

22 


ERICH  LTTDEXDORFF 

same  year,  Ludendorff  said  to  a  Viennese  journalist: 
"  We  did  not  think  our  submarine  warfare  could  starve 
England  out  in  a  few  months."  They  only  wished  to 
increase  her  desire  for  peace.  In  many  ways  the  supply 
of  wood  and  coal  was  more  important  to  England  than 
food.  Imagination !  The  forests  of  Scotland  furnished 
wood  enough,  and  as  for  coal,  Cardiff  alone  produces  the 
best  coal  in  the  world.  Politically  Ludendorff  had  ex- 
posed himself.  And  militarily  ?  "  The  war  shall  not 
be  given  up  as  a  draw,"  he  said  to  the  same  questioner. 
"  It  will  be  decided  favorably  for  us." 

FIFTH  PICTURE 

Ludendorff's  splendor  grew  and  spread  its  rays  in  all 
directions.  Not  a  few  wished  him  at  the  head  of  affairs. 
The  ever  more  visible  dictator's  claws  pleased  them. 
The  deportations  from  Belgium  aroused  the  whole 
world.  These  brutal  measures  proceeded  from  Luden- 
dorff alone.  He  had  not  considered  it  necessary  to  con- 
fer with  anyone  about  this  fateful  measure.  Was  he 
really  a  powerful  man  or  did  he  only  wish  to  appear  as 
such  before  the  world  ?  The  Chief  Command  began  to 
deify  itself.  Only  those  newspapers  were  allowed  to 
appear  in  which  Hindenburg  appeared  as  the  Father 
and  Ludendorff  as  the  Holy  Ghost.  At  bottom  Luden- 
dorff was  but  a  small,  political  dilettante  who  had  read 
himself   big   in   the   Alldeutscher    Posener    Tageblatt 

23 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

and  Pommersclien  Tagespost.     One  gradually  beg" 
to  see  that  his  decisions  in  Home  and  Foreign  poli 
were  not  made  with  that  calm  calculation  and  < 
knowledge  which  characterized  his  military  measi 
One  day  documents  will  talk  and  the  political  hist 
will  he  speechless. 

Eor  his  Home  and  Foreign  ministry  he  had  ci\ 
a  war  press,  and  with  this  apparatus  he  squeezed 
Government  to  the  wall  and  the  Reichstag  along 
them.    Bethmann,  Michaelis,  Hertling,  all  strov    VJ 
against  this  militarizing  of  politics.     Ludendoi 
umphed.     He  made  an  end  of  that  ghost,  "  R 
peace  without  annexation,"  through  General  Ho 

V 

SIXTH  PICTURE  tf, 

Hindenburg  and  Ludendorff  reconstructed  tl 
They  had  taken  it  over  from  Falkenhayn  in 
healthy  condition.     Orders  show  how  this  w 
Sharper  enforcement  of  compulsory  obediei  < 
sauer's  system  revived.     Many  officer   sik 
proved.     Everyone  who  has  had  anything 
troops   knows    that    little    is    accomplished    ly 
Troops  and  officers  were  too  little  bound  by  com 
interests. 

The  great  offensive  came  to  a  standstill  in  the  m 
mer  of  1918.  At  first  it  was  only  whispered  about 
a  few  at  whom  one  shrugged  one's  should'-0 

24 


ERICH  LUDEKDOKFF 

"f  the  officers  believed  in  the  theory  that  pauses  were 

-essary  and  that  Ludendorff's  hammer  would  strike 

'  lling  blow  here  and  another  one  there,  until  the  last 

•it  victory  was  pulled  off  in  triumph.     The  Kaiser 

'eled  to  Aix-la-Chapelle  and  delivered  his  brilliant 

-hall  speech. 

•tidendorff's  hammer  fell  a  few  times  more,  once  with 

is.     And  then  all  was  over;  Ludendorff  told  the 

'  v  leaders  in  the  Keichstag  that  he  could  only  be  re- 

8  for  the  army  for  a  few  months  at  most.    His 

i  Went  back  on  him.     The  people's  Government 

save  the  Fatherland.     In  accordance  with  Luden- 

s  world  policy,  German  troops  were  scattered  all 

,he  world:  in  Finland,  in  Russia,  in  the  Baltic 

direct  p  ^  jn  Lithuania,  in  Poland,  in  the  Ukraine,  in 

in  the  Caucasus,  in  Mesopotamia,  in  Syria,  in 

1  ms,  in  Italy,  in  Austria, —  and  the  west  front 

xOW  below  the  belt,  although  the  double  front 

vas  long  since  ended. 

SEVENTH  PICTURE 

_dendorff  had  proved  himself  incapable  of  judging 

'situation  while  there  was  yet  time.    Perhaps  it  was 

jady  too  late  after  the  first  blow.     Enemies  of  Ger- 

iiny  would  not  have  accepted  an  offer  of  peace  even 

.on,  in  which  Germany  did  not  recognize  that  she  was 

7  the  militarists  had  given  up  then  it  would 

25 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

have  prevented  "unnecessary  bloodshed.  But  no — rather 
another  try  after  too  long  a  pause.  When  this  instru- 
ment was  dulled  on  the  mangled  bodies  of  men,  when  the 
third  attempt  failed,  then  Foch  reached  his  goal.  The 
command  given  to  the  troops  at  each  of  these  offensives 
was  to  fight  to  the  last  ditch,  utter  ruthlessness  with  men 
and  material.  The  moment  these  attacks  became  un- 
necessary the  leader  who  ordered  them  was  inhuman. 
The  whole  offensive  was  a  huge  mistake,  as  one  could 
elearly  see  after  the  breakdown.  There  was  a  lack  of 
knowledge  of  enemy  strength.  Ludendorff  was  wholly 
mistaken  on  this  point.  He  lacked  perception  and  pene- 
tration in  regard  to  the  reports  made  to  him.  The  man 
who  brought  him  these  reports  was  the  same  who 
whipped  np  the  German  press  for  him :  First  Lieutenant 
Nicolai.  Here  is  the  tragedy  of  it  all.  On  account  of 
political  incapability  Ludendorff  was  blinded  to  mili- 
tary events  by  a  tool  who  catered  to  his  ambition.  Even 
during  the  offensive  Ludendorff  could  not  see  the  ridicu- 
lousness of  it. 

"  Foch  still  has  forty  divisions ;  thirty  divisions ;  ten ; 
now  they  are  all  demolished.  Where  is  Foch  ? ':  so 
wrote  a  Berlin  paper.  Ludendorff  looked  on  at  this  sort 
of  reckoning  and  seemed  to  believe  in  it.  lie  could 
not  pass  the  test  of  greatness  which  knows  the  essen- 
tial, discards  everything  else  and  rejects  false  honor. 
This  inner  victory,  the  victory  over  oneself,  this  ruth- 

26 


ERICH  LUDENDORFF 

lessness  which  alone  is  great,  seemed  too  bitter  for  this 
most  ruthless  of  men. 

The  submarine  warfare  was  the  chief  factor  in  the 
downfall.  If  Germany  had  not  had  faith  in  that,  a 
cheaper  peace  might  have  been  won.  Ludendorff  bears 
the  responsibility  for  this  step.  It  is  an  open  secret  that 
that  there  were  very  few  boats.  There  was  no  founda- 
tion for  other  reports  than  the  hope  of  new  boats.  Why 
did  Ludendorff  not  investigate  these  conditions  before 
giving  the  command  ?  It  can  hardly  be  comprehended. 
Is  it  possible  that  he  really  was  as  superficial  and  cred- 
ulous as  they  say? 

Optimism  held  full  sway  in  Rhineland  industrial 
circles  where  he  daily  came  and  went.  "  A  few  weeks 
ago  Hindenburg  visited  us.  Everybody  was  on  parade. 
It  was  like  a  visit  from  the  Kaiser.  Ludendorff  looked 
unconcerned.  He  had  a  wave  of  the  hand  as  much  as 
to  say :  '  I'll  manage  everything.'  "  Such  was  the  re- 
port of  a  Landsturm  man. 

Because  Ludendorff  had  this  motion  of  the  hand  no 
one  on  the  whole  general  staff  ever  contradicted  him. 
He  suffered  no  contradiction.  That  really  means  that 
whoever  contradicted  probably  lost  his  position.  To 
comprehend  the  development  of  the  whole  misfortune 
one  must  add  the  ambitions  and  strivings  of  many  other 
staff  officers  to  LudendorfFs  picture.  Then  one  may 
delve  deeper  for  the  damage  done  to  the  German  nation. 

27 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

EIGHTH  PICTUEE 

Ludendorff  drove  his  madness  further  after  the  col- 
lapse. The  retreat  succeeded  but  that  was  no  fault  of 
his.  The  troops  once  more  stood  firm  as  a  stone  wall. 
The  enemy  was  thrown  back.  Ludendorff  was  again 
on  top  and  ready  to  retract  what  he  had  yielded  in  a 
moment  of  weakness.  Then  came  collision  with  the 
People's  Government.  He  hoped  to  be  able  to  make  one 
more  attempt.  But  it  was  already  too  late.  A  year  or 
so  ago  he  had  been  able  to  bring  about  Bethmann-Holl- 
weg's  fall  by  a  simple  "  He  or  I."  This  time  it  didn't 
work.  At  the  decisive  moment  Hindenburg  dropped 
him  for  the  Kaiser.  That  finished  Ludendorff.  He 
refused  every  order,  every  honor,  every  decoration,  even 
the  Imperial  handwriting,  as  an  insult.  Hindenburg 
and  Ludendorff  left  on  two  different  trains,  parted  for 
the  first  time,  the  one  to  take  up  his  work  again,  the 
other  to  retire  on  a  pension. 


The  play  is  over.  Go  home,  good  people,  go  home. 
Ludendorff  is  no  more.  A  nightmare  has  been  lifted 
from  your  souls.  A  Napoleon  has  been  sent  to  rest. 
He  fled  to  Sweden  when  the  revolution  made  an  end  of 
all  those  military  spooks,  and  started  without  delay  the 
work  of  writing  his  War  Memoirs,  a  book  of  astounding 
volume  considering  its  absolute  emptiness  as  regards  its 

28 


ERICH  LUDENDORFF 

contribution  to  military  and  political  science  as  well  as 
to  the  interests  of  civilization.  Bourgeois  and  military 
reaction,  after  recovering  from  its  shock  over  the  down- 
fall of  its  hero,  is  looking  up  to  him  once  more  as  the 
coming  savior  of  the  Fatherland.  And,  by  and  by, 
Erich  LudendorfT  begins  again  to  look  upon  himself  in 
that  light  and  to  play,  evidently  to  his  own  satisfaction, 
the  part  of  the  slumbering  lion,  growling  in  his  sleep, 
ready  to  awake  at  any  moment  with  the  terrible  roar  of 
the  king  of  the  jungle. 


IV 

THEODOR  WOLFF 

Facts  have  always  interested  the  average  person,  the 
general  public,  less  than  the  personalities  who  stood  be- 
hind them  directing  their  course.  Carlyle  built  up  an 
historical  theory  on  this  fact.  He  reflected  on  the 
history  of  heroes.  Antiquity  idolized  Plutarch  whose 
biography  everyone  should  read.  Modern  history  has 
developed  and  been  greatly  influenced  by  an  entirely 
new  type  of  such  "  heroes,"  namely,  the  political  writer. 
In  democratic  lands  this  pen  heroism  opened  the  way 
much  earlier.  France,  or  more  correctly  Paris,  is  the 
classical  soil  for  it.  In  Germany  the  press  was  valued 
for  decades  rather  as  a  cleanser  of  public  morals  than  as 
a  spiritual  guidepost.  At  least  this  was  the  usual  opin- 
ion in  official  or  officious  circles  in  regard  to  that  neces- 
sary evil  —  the  press.  Under  the  pressure  of  war  we 
also  were  converted  and  the  papers  could  no  longer  com- 
plain of  having  to  occupy  a  back  seat.  On  the  contrary, 
presumptions  became  so  prevalent  that  it  needed  a  firm 
character  to  resist  the  influence  of  all  sorts  of  rumors. 
A  good  many  German  journalists  failed  to  stand  the 
test  to  which  they  were  suddenly  subjected.     Most  of 

30 


THEODOR  WOLFF 

them,  in  fact  the  compact  majority,  came  to  a  com- 
promise during  the  war.  The  people,  who  are  not  as 
simple  as  they  look  sometimes,  scented  this,  and  doubt 
crept  into  their  despairing  breasts. 

Theodor  Wolff  belongs  to  those  who  maintained 
their  backbone  during  all  the  various  mental  phases 
of  the  war.  He  was  a  fanatic  for  the  truth,  who  even 
tried  to  fight  against  the  daily  lies  of  life.  Wolff 
was  originally  purely  literary;  form  was  everything 
to  him,  aesthetics  the  main  thing.  Like  all  youths 
with  their  own  mental  life  he  composed  poetry  at 
school,  but  with  all  his  youthful  enthusiasm  there 
remained  a  skeptical,  a  critical  streak  in  him. 

Critical  Passages  at  Arms  was  the  name  of  the  first 
journal  published  by  him  during  his  school  days.  He 
was  assisted  by  a  number  of  school  comrades,  many  of 
whom  afterwards  became  pupils  of  Erich  Schmidt.  By 
encouraging  a  free  stage  he  acknowledged  his  belief  in 
naturalism,  which  was  growing  ever  more  powerful. 
Plays  and  romances  soon  arose  from  his  pen.  Kleist 
was  not  his  model,  rather  Heine  or  perhaps  Borne.  But 
this  is  only  a  comparison,  for  he  had  a  thoroughly  in- 
dependent nature  whose  strength  was  concealed  by  a 
mantle  of  gentleness  and  courtesy.  His  characters  were 
spiritual,  they  were  stamped  with  beautiful  words  and 
their  lives  were,  unintentionally,  a  cult  of  beauty,  an 
evening  conversation  with  discreetly  lowered  lights. 

31 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

A  long  residence  at  Paris  was  determined  upon  for 
Wolff.  Here  his  talent  for  style  and  form  received  its 
last  polish  in  the  fascinating  atmosphere  of  the  Boule- 
vards. He  did  not  remain  long  at  f  euilleton  work ;  poli- 
tics soon  captured  him.  At  first  it  was  the  political 
heads  of  France,  all  the  impulsive  rhetoricians  and  po- 
litical heroes  that  took  his  fancy.  Then  politics  itself 
fascinated  him,  the  eternal  hither  and  thither,  for  and 
against  of  people,  things  and  opinions;  the  eternal  at- 
tempts to  balance  contradictions  without  ever  coming  to 
a  harmonious  whole :  Thesis,  Antithesis,  and  Synthesis. 
It  was  at  the  time  of  the  political  tension  in  France  as 
well  as  in  all  Europe;  the  time  of  Dreyfus  and  Alge- 
ciras.  Theodor  Wolff  was  everywhere,  writing  and 
acting. 

His  literary  reputation  was  already  established  when 
he  returned  to  Berlin  in  1907  to  take  Arthur  Lewsohn's 
place  at  the  head  of  the  Barliner  Tageblatt.  Many  and 
varied  were  the  things  he  brought  home  from  Paris :  a 
clean  political  shirt,  a  wide  knowledge  of  people,  a 
familiarity  with  the  tricks  of  diplomacy,  and  an  honest, 
democratic  heart.  He  continually  tried  to  induce  Prus- 
sian Germany  to  lay  aside  the  half-absolutism  of  the 
Friedrich  period  and  to  live  up  to  the  political  stand- 
ards of  the  rest  of  the  Western  Europe  culture  world. 
The  new  Theodor  was  keen  and  sharp  and  was  not 
to  be  deterred  by  traditions.     Inexhaustible  were  the 

32 


THEODOR  WOLFF 

weapons  he  used  against  the  existing  political  system. 
He  fought  with  wit  and  satire,  with  anger  and  indigna- 
tion. At  this  time  even  liberalism  had  given  way  be- 
fore the  smooth  business  policy  of  Prince  Billow.  In 
this  black  period,  the  Berliner  Tageblatt  fought  almost 
single-handed  against  a  policy  which  sought  to  veil  and 
falsify  the  ineradicable  differences  between  the  Right 
and  the  Left.  In  spite  of  all  opposition  or  more  gra- 
cious wooing,  Theodor  Wolff  remained  firm.  In  most 
pronounced  fashion  he  kept  the  Prussian  franchise  re- 
form in  the  foreground.  This  was  the  apple  of  discord 
he  continually  rolled  between  the  immoral  marriage  of 
the  parties.  The  results  after  ten  years  proved  him 
right.  The  Government  itself  finally  proposed  equal 
suffrage. 

Theodor  Wolff  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  at- 
tacked persons  in  the  political  life  of  Germany.  Be- 
sides the  integrity  and  strength  of  his  character  there 
is  one  thing  no  one  can  deny,  and  that  is  a  political  in- 
stinct of  unusual  certainty.  The  psychological  is  the 
fundamental  trait  that  distinguishes  his  political  writ- 
ings. His  Monday  articles  are  the  watchword  for  the 
political  week.  In  the  enemy's  camp  they  tried  to  put 
an  end  to  him  by  accusing  him  of  journalism,  of  having 
little  economical  or  social  knowledge.  But  what  is 
that?  Is  Count  Hertling  any  the  less  a  politician  be- 
cause he  probably  never  belonged  to  a  college  of  national 

33 


XEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

^economy?  Or  was  Disraeli,  Lord  Beaconsfleld,  the 
novelist  ? 

We  are  more  interested  in  how  Theodor  Wolff  con- 
templates politics  and  tlie  State.  We  find  the  following 
definition  in  Schiller's  letters  to  the  Duke  von  Holstein- 
Augustenburg :  "The  State  should  not  honor  merely 
the  objective  and  the  generical  in  the  character  of  the 
individual,  it  should  also  honor  the  subjective  and  the 
.specific,  and  while  spreading  the  invisible  kingdom  of 
morals  and  customs  should  not  depopulate  the  kingdom 
of  phenomena."  It  is  the  human  that  counts  even  in 
politics.  This  is  not  merely  a  platonic,  democratic  pro- 
fession ;  it  is  a  daily  going  out  to  do  battle  not  only  for 
ideas  but  for  the  people,  that  they  may  be  brought  a 
step  further  forward  in  the  development  of  culture 
through  the  realization  of  the  idea.  This  effort  com- 
prises everything  —  humanitarian  thoughts,  cosmopoli- 
tanism, democracy,  ethics  and  aesthetism.  Everything, 
and  yet  in  this  Wolff  mixture  there  is  something  espe- 
cial: the  original  personality  behind  all  else. 

According  to  Hegel,  the  State  is  a  spiritual  idea  in 
the  externality  of  human  will  and  its  freedom.  That 
is  what  it  should  be  at  least.  But  a  short  time  ago  we 
were  not  so  far  as  that  in  Prussia.  The  milestones  on 
the  way  to  it  were:  equal  suffrage  in  Prussia,  parlia- 
mentary system,  international  court  of  arbitration  and 
-universal  disarmament.    It  is  Theodor  Wolff  more  than 

34 


THEODOR  WOLFF 

any  other  that  deserves  the  reward  for  continually  point- 
ing to  this  necessity.  Politicians  were  not  able  to  with- 
stand this  suggestion  forever.  This  struggle  for  equal 
suffrage,  for  a  parliamentary  system,  and  for  pacificism, 
is  faithfully  reflected  in  his  war-book,  Accomplished 
Facts,  a  collection  of  Monday  articles.  Taken  as  a 
whole,  it  is  a  moral  philosopher's  balancing  of  accounts 
with  the  shadow  side  of  war.  "  Like  desecrated  priest's 
garments,"  he  writes  in  the  introduction,  "  many  have 
hung  the  worthless  principles  of  justice,  of  truth  and 
human  dignity  in  the  pawnshop.  The  joyless  races  of 
Philistines  and  Pharisees  are  increasing.  Those  who 
wish  to  keep  out  the  enemy  and  guard  the  legacy  of  the 
noblest  souls,  feel  themselves  united  for  a  common  task. 
Out  of  this  destruction  it  is  they  who  will  carry  the  true 
household  gods  into  the  future." 

The  revolution  gave  him  a  new  impulse.  The  time 
seemed  ripe  for  the  discarding  of  the  rusty,  old,  liberal 
party  models,  and  so  he  became  the  instigator  and  actual 
founder  of  the-  "  German  Democratic  Party  "  on  a  re- 
publican basis. 

This  is  Theodor  "Wolff  and  his  mode  of  life. 


CHAPTER  V 

MATHIAS  ERZBEEGER 

Through  a  narrow,  creaking,  little  door  we  carefully* 
enter  the  Dome.  A  murky  twilight  swallows  us  up. 
The  last  fine  wisps  of  incense  caress  our  senses.  A  tired 
little  bell  tinkles  in  our  ears.  Suddenly  two  forms  arise, 
two  men.  !Not  hesitatingly  like  sinners  or  dreamers  — 
they  step  out  energetically  like  men  who  have  a  certain 
goal  to  reach.  One  is  a  priest,  tall  and  thin,  with  an 
aesthetic  face ;  fanaticism  and  indomitable  energy  gleam 
out  from  under  gray  lashes,  energy  that  knows  no  com- 
promise, no  turning  aside.  A  Jesuit  father  ?  The  curi- 
ous robe  looks  like  it.  His  companion  is  rather  short, 
round  and  well-fed.  Red-cheeked,  lively,  bright  eyes 
behind  discreet,  gold-rimmed  glasses,  blond  hair,  his 
face  beams  like  the  sun  at  noon-tide.  Hans  Thema  has 
no  chubbier,  rounder,  happier  little  angel  on  his  flowery 
meadows  than  this. 

Who  are  these  remarkable  figures  ?  The  priest  I  do 
not  know,  but  he  seems  of  high  rank.  But  the  other 
seems  familiar ;  have  I  not  seen  him  somewhere  before  ? 
Is  it  not  Hathias  Erzberger?  Yes,  without  a  doubt 
that  is  who  it  is.     But  what  is  he  doing  here  in  this 

36 


MATHIAS  ERZBEKGER 

half-forgotten  Dome,  in  this  pilgrims'  church  near  the 
frontier?  Has  a  secret  political  mission  sent  him  to 
this  quiet  corner?  Is  he  holding  a  secret  conference 
with  a  messenger  from  the  Vatican  ?  ISTot  a  soul  here 
knows  them.  They  can  whisper  and  plot  and  throw  out 
new  peace  nets  undisturbed. 

Absorbed  in  their  conversation  they  pass  by ;  in  pass- 
ing they  hardly  raise  their  eyes.  A  confessional  reaches 
out  its  arms  invitingly  toward  them.  The  priest  pulls 
back  the  purple,  shimmering  curtain  and  seats  himself. 
On  the  other  side,  separated  only  by  a  thin  wooden  wall 
with  a  barred  grating,  sits  Mathias  Erzberger.  The 
confession  begins  with  the  words  of  St.  Augustine :  !N"o 
one  puts  trust  in  himself  in  the  impending  discussion ; 
in  God  alone  do  we  put  our  trust.  In  God?  Or  in 
Christ's  substitute,  the  Pope  in  the  Vatican  ? 


Who  is  this  Mathias  Erzberger  that  he  undertakes  to 
juggle  with  nations  as  with  dogmatic  formulae  and  play 
the  benevolent  Providence?  How  does  it  happen  that 
wherever  we  go  we  come  across  his  tracks  ?  In  the  press 
or  wherever  there  is  a  political  wound  still  festering  he 
is  the  first  to  recognize  the  situation,  to  apply  the  knife 
to  the  abscess.  Who  is  Mathias  Erzberger  whose  spirit 
floats  over  the  inky  oceans  of  the  Germania,  that  organ 

37 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

of  Berlin's  Center  party;  who  not  only  writes  for  the 
party  but  also  for  the  Government  although  he  never 
signs  his  name  ? 

Let  him  speak  for  himself: 

"  I  was  born  in  Buttenhausen  on  the  20th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1875.  You  will  not  find  Buttenhausen  on  the  map, 
it  is  so  small.  It  is  situated  in  the  quietest  corner  of 
"Wurttemberg ;  cattle  dealers  are  its  excuse  for  existing. 
I  was  educated  in  Biberach,  that  ancient  city  with  its 
medieval  walls  and  its  venerable  church  dating  from 
the  twelfth  century.  I  wanted  to  become  a  teacher  — 
a  pedagogue  —  and  had  reached  my  goal  at  the  age  of 
nineteen.  But  my  young  blood  left  me  no  peace ;  it  was 
not  enough  for  me  to  teach  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot. 

"At  twenty-one  I  became  editor  and  politician ;  after 
leaving  the  Catholic  Teacher's  Seminary  I  spent  a  few 
semesters  at  the  Swiss  Catholic  High  School  at  Frei- 
burg, studying  constitutional  law  and  national  economy. 
For  seven  years  I  was  occupied  journalistically  for  the 
Christian  Guild  movement.  In  1897  I  was  sent  to  the 
International  Labor  Congress  at  Zurich ;  here  at  scarce 
twenty-two  years  of  age  I  made  my  first  tender  attempts 
at  establishing  foreign  connections. 

"  I  had  the  power  of  persuasion  and  'a  gift  of  gab'  so 
that  I  soon  became  the  spoiled  pet  of  the  masses.  It 
was  no  wonder  that  Biberach  and  Buttenhausen  sent  me 
to  the  Reichstag  at  the  tender  age  of  twenty-eight. 

38 


MATIIIAS  ERZBERGER 

"  Here  I  was  looked  upon  as  a  Benjamin  hardly  to  be 
taken  seriously.  But  I  had  a  head  full  of  ideas  and  was 
soon  the  only  one  among  the  Center  who  really  longed 
for  deeds  to  free  us  from  the  sticky  atmosphere  of  party 
politics.  I  peered  like  a  thief  in  the  night  for  oppor- 
tunities. My  thoughts  wandered  far,  even  across  the 
equator  to  German  Southwest  Africa.  The  Colonies  — 
here  was  my  field !  For  only  the  specialist  amounts  to 
anything  in  the  Reichstag.  So  it  came  about  that  on 
the  21st  of  January,  1905,  I  emerged  from  the  darkness 
of  specialization  into  the  glare  of  the  footlights  and 
cockily  disputed  the  claims  of  the  settlers  for  damages 
resulting  from  the  uprising.  Those  who  go  out  to  earn 
money  must  take  the  risk,  I  said.  Such  tones  had  not 
been  heard  from  the  Center  of  the  House  for  a  long  time. 
They  were  accustomed  to  hearing  such  things  from  the 
Social  Democrat  side  only.  The  gentlemen  around  the 
green  table  shivered  slightly  in  this  cool  breeze  and  put 
their  heads  together. 

"  '  What  does  this  young  badger  want  ?  What  does 
he  know  about  the  suffering  and  distress  in  the  South- 
west? He  is  mixing  in  other  people's  business.  It  is 
impossible  for  the  Center  to  identify  itself  with  such 
things/ 

"  I  admit  it  was  not  easy  to  convince  the  party  of  my 
opinions.  But  I  pounded  on  the  mass  of  material  in 
my  possession,  which  increased  enormously  in  the  course 

39 


LEADEKS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

of  the  following  months.  The  Colonial  Government  had 
not  used  its  money  scrupulously,  so  I  wrote  in  the 
Kolnische  Volkszeitung.  Immediately  the  semi-official 
Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung  fell  upon  me,  with  a 
lot  of  publications  of  documents  trying  to  prove  that  my 
speech  had  been  but  empty  talk.  And  I  confess  that 
my  informers  had  not  been  absolutely  reliable.  But 
I  was  young  and  inexperienced. 

"In  1906  I  brought  my  whole  party  on  the  down- 
grade with  colonial  affairs.  I  had  a  scandal  up  my 
sleeve:  the  affair  of  Secretary  Poplau  who  had  fur- 
nished me  a  great  deal  of  material  from  Colonial  Gov- 
ernment records.  Herr  Spahn,  our  party  leader,  de- 
clared he  was  not  convinced  by  Representative  Erz- 
berger ;  the  latter  had  not  proved  any  of  his  statements. 
Herr  Spahn  spoke  in  the  name  of  the  party,  hoping  to 
squelch  me  thereby.  But  the  lightning  ran  down  the 
rod  and  thunder  did  not  scare  me.  Even  the  court  did 
not  bring  me  off  my  perch.  In  the  Poplau  process  I 
first  maintained  silence  until  Poplau — under  pressure — 
gave  me  permission  to  speak.  But  the  court  refused  to 
put  me  under  oath  after  hearing  my  statement.  The 
others  reproached  me  with  this,  saying  the  court  wished 
to  save  me  from  perjury.  My  answer  to  this  was  that 
courts  in  general  were  not  so  squeamish,  and  moreover 
I  did  not  know  why  they  should  make  an  exception  in 
my  case. 

40 


MATHIAS  ERZBERGER 

"  In  December,  1906,  I  exposed  some  German  in- 
trigues on  the  Spanish  island,  Fernando  Po,  that  might 
have  led  to  complications  with  Spain.  I  pressed  the 
party  to  refuse  credit  for  an  increase  of  troops  in  the 
Southwest.  I  admit  I  was  dismayed  myself,  when 
Prince  Billow  arose  solemnly  from  his  place  at  the  long 
Bundesrat  table,  took  up  a  red  portfolio,  and  in  the 
name  of  the  Kaiser  adjourned  the  Reichstag.  Naturally 
it  was  not  easy  for  me  in  the  party  and  I  soon  felt  their 
displeasure.  When  the  speeches  of  all  the  Center  mem- 
bers were  published  mine  was  simply  left  out  as  if  it 
had  never  existed. 

"  In  a  debate  over  Ostmark  and  Poland,  Prince  Salm 
brought  up  my  name  in  connection  with  a  theft  in 
order  to  put  me  on  the  grill.  I  smile  to  think  of  it. 
The  Bayerisclie  Kurier,  the  leading  South  German  Cen- 
ter paper,  had  published  some  especially  intimate 
passages  from  the  documents  of  the  German  Navy 
Yerein.  These  documents  were  only  to  be  obtained 
with  the  aid  of  a  key  from  a  private  drawer  in  a  writ- 
ing table  belonging  to  the  Verein.  They  thought  they 
had  found  the  thief  in  the  shape  of  one  Oscar  Janke,  a 
messenger  boy  in  the  service  of  the  Verein.  He  escaped 
and  knocked  at  the  door  of  a  Jesuit  monastery  seeking 
admittance  and  perhaps  absolution  from  his  heresy  (he 
was  a  Protestant  at  the  time  of  the  theft). 

"  The  process  continued  and  I  made  the  following 

41 


LEADERS  OF  YESTEEDAY  AATD  TO-DAY 

statement  before  the  prosecuting  attorney:  'I  refuse 
to  give  any  information  in  regard  to  the  following  ques- 
tions :  whether  it  was  known  to  me  in  what  manner  or 
through  whom  the  article  "  Navy  Verein  Propaganda  " 
appeared  in  the  Bayerische  Kurier  of  February  5,  1907, 
or  whether  the  father  or  brothers  of  Janke  had  contrib- 
uted any  material  or  information  for  this  article, 
because  in  answering  either  of  these  questions  I  make 
myself  liable  to  prosecution.  I  beg  to  take  an  oath  to 
this  effect.'  The  proceedings  had  to  be  stopped.  The 
prosecuting  attorney  frothed  at  the  mouth,  gathered  up 
his  books  and  papers,  held  his  robe  together  which  was 
flapping  in  the  wind  like  a  loose  sail,  and  left  the  room. 
I  had  put  him  out  of  the  ring  and  robbed  him  of  his 
one  day's  glory.  I  didn't  pass  through  the  rigid  school 
of  church  dialectics  for  nothing.  If  Theseus  had  at- 
tended a  priests'  seminary  or  even  a  Catholic  high 
school,  he  would  never  have  needed  Ariadne's  ball  of 
yarn  to  escape  from  the  Minotaur."     He  broke  off. 

The  violet  curtain  was  pushed  aside ;  the  priest  arose 
from  his  carved  Roman  chair  and  stepped  out,  Erzberger 
by  his  side.  In  the  meantime  the  church  had  gradually 
filled.  The  middle  nave  was  already  full.  Feet  tram- 
pled above  in  the  choir  loft.  Youths  and  maidens  in- 
toned a  pious  cantus  firmus.  Under  cover  of  the  noises 
that  now  filled  the  church  the  two  continued  their  con- 
versation : 

42 


X 


MATHIAS  ERZBERGER 

"  I  must  have  a  short  account  of  your  doings  during 
the  war,  my  son,"  began  the  priest. 

"  Twenty-eight  million  marks,"  answered  the  other 
smiling,  "  I  have  given  out  for  my  mission.  That  proves 
my  eagerness  to  bring  about  a  peace  in  the  sense  of  the 
church.  The  Government  gave  me  everything  I  wanted 
of  their  own  free  will.  I  work  in  the  Foreign  Office 
with  official  stamps  and  ink-pads  near  my  writing  ma- 
terials, and  am  often,  much  too  often,  sent  on  journeys. 
Herr  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  makes  use  of  me  only 
too  gladly.  I  took  great  pains  in  the  effort  to  main- 
tain Italy's  and  Roumania's  neutrality;  I  have  used 
considerable  sums  in  Rome  and  Bucharest.  It  pains 
me  to  the  bottom  of  my  soul  that  Monseignor 
Gerlach  was  mixed  up  in  that  unfortunate  treason 
affair.  It  must  also  be  painful  to  the  Holy  Father,  but 
the  good  cause  —  that  of  bringing  the  peace  of  Christ 
into  the  world  —  sustains  me.  I  was  in  Stockholm,  too, 
throwing  out  my  lines  toward  Russia  while  the  Little 
Father  still  trembled  on  his  throne,  and  a  Radziwill 
helped  me. 

"After  that  I  was  in  Switzerland,  most  of  the  time 
with  Ledochowski,  March etti,  Friihwirth,  and  Hoffman, 
who  compromised  himself  as  a  member  of  the  Swiss 
Bundesrat ;  everywhere  you  can  find  traces  of  me  cling- 
ing to  the  Alpine  rocks. 

"  It  was  I  who  said  if  Lloyd  George  or  Balfour  would 

43 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

only  listen  to  me  for  a  few  hours  we  could  easily  come 
to  an  understanding.  It  was  also  my  project  (I  wrote 
it  down  somewhere  in  a  confidential  document)  to  invest 
German  capital  in  English  undertakings  and  English 
money  in  German  banks,  factories,  etc. 

"And  then  I  fought  against  the  submarine  warfare, 
too.  I  saw  the  political  danger  of  such  a  step.  And  was 
I  not  right  at  least  as  far  as  U-boats  are  concerned? 

"  I  haven't  said  anything  about  Austria  yet  or  about 
Czernin,  his  letters,  his  desire  for  peace,  or  the  peace 
resolutions  I  proposed  and  carried  out.  There  was  a 
row  in  the  Center  in  July,  1917,  when  I  brought  up  my 
project.  His  Excellency,  Peter  Spahn,  trembled  with 
indignation  at  my  arbitrariness;  in  a  fit  of  rage  he 
accepted  the  post  of  minister  in  the  Prussian  Ministry 
of  Justice,  although  this  place  was  to  have  been  adorned 
by  his  friend  Persch. 

"  I  was  in  Holland,  too,  where  I  came  into  conflict 
with  Thyssen,  although  he  could  have  made  such  good 
use  of  me.  I  was  complimented  out  of  the  executive 
council  of  the  Thyssen  concern  because  they  felt  obliged 
to  be  ashamed  of  me  before  the  public. 

"  Have  I  not  been  a  martyr  for  the  cause  of  peace  ? 
Have  I  not  prepared  the  way  for  the  peace  message  of 
His  Holiness,  Benedict  XV? 

"But  every  crown,  even  the  crown  of  service,  has 
thorns  and  sharp  ones  at  that. 

44 


MATHIAS  ERZBERGER 

"  What  have  I  gained  by  it  all  ?  Always  driven  to 
action,  to  deeds,  my  conscience  would  not  let  me  rest 
while  this  frightful  slaughter  was  going  on." 

"Right  you  are,  my  son.  Absolvo  te.  Ecclesia  te 
coronat.     Labora    .     .     ." 

At  this  moment  the  choir  began  to  sing  with  one  ac- 
cord the  old  song  of  peace  which  is  the  portion  of  all 
mankind  —  or  should  be  his  portion  sometime  or  other. 


From  this  peaceful  island  he  returned  to  Berlin  to 
take  up  his  work  once  more.  It  was  livelier  than  ever 
in  his  office  on  Budapester  street.  To  his  many  other 
affairs  was  added  the  patronage  over  the  Lithuanians, 
to  whom  he  presented  as  king  the  Duke  von  Urach,  his 
old  "Wurttemberg  countryman. 

Then  he  made  preparations  for  a  thorough  change  of 
system  in  Germany.  Count  Hertling  must  go,  and  with 
him  the  old  regime.  Prince  Max  von  Baden  appeared 
on  the  scene  and  in  an  hour  of  need  grouped  the  People's 
Government  about  himself.  The  war  cabinet  was  com- 
posed of  State  Secretaries,  the  Chancellor,  and  his  sub- 
stitute. Erzberger  was  not  passed  over;  he  became 
Secretary  of  State,  Privy  Councillor,  and  Excellence, 
Secretary  of  State  for  Propaganda,  and  after  that  head 
of  the  truce  commission  which  brought  Germany  a  not 
very  joyful  armistice. 

45 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Ulysses'  ten  years  of  wandering  were  at  an  end.  In 
his  official  Ithaca  he  at  last  found  firm  ground  under 
his  feet,  and  soon  again  cast  about  for  new  shores. 
When  in  June,  1919,  the  Democrats  refused  to  sign 
the  Peace  Treaty  and  quit  the  Coalition  Cabinet,  and 
when  in  Weimar,  five  minutes  before  the  expiration  of 
the  Entente  ultimatum,  everybody  seemed  to  lose  his 
head,  Erzberger  took  a  hand  in  the  matter  and  the 
Treaty  was  signed.  Erzberger  became  Minister  of 
Einances  and  Vice-President  of  the  Cabinet.  He  was 
confronted  by  new  and  weighty  problems,  such  as  the 
sanitation  of  the  finances  and  the  organization  of  a  new 
and  unified  system  of  taxation,  enough  to  cause  any  man 
to  break  down  under  the  mental  and  physical  strain  of 
the  task.  Erzberger  went  at  it  with  all  his  wonted 
energy  that  balks  at  nothing.  A  flood  of  new  taxes 
poured  over  the  German  people.  The  budget  of  the 
Empire  that  before  the  war  hovered  around  twenty-five 
billion  marks,  rose  to  ten  times  its  former  size,  not 
counting  in  the  (still  unknown)  indemnities  and  de- 
mands of  the  creditors  of  the  Entente.  The  running 
expenses  are  growing  continually.  The  value  of  the 
German  mark  on  foreign  exchange  is  continually  sink- 
ing.    But  Erzberger's  optimism  is  in  no  way  affected. 

"  Erst  mach  dein'  Sach', 
Dann  trink  und  lach' !  " 

he  wrote,  the  smile  of  good  humor  and  the  glow  of 

46 


MATHIAS  ERZBERGER 

robust  health  on  his  round  face,  into  the  guest-book  of 
the  Weimar  "  Fiirstenkeller."  Ten  days  after  the  bul- 
lets of  a  foolish  youth  whom  the  Nationalist  fame  of 
the  murderer  of  Eisner,  Count  Arco,  would  not  let 
sleep,  had  struck  Germany's  "  strongest "  man,  he  was 
facing  his  bitter  antagonist  and  inveterate  foe,  Ilelf- 
ferich  in  the  court  room,  ready  to  give  and  take,  per- 
haps the  only  living  German  who  will  never  know 
when  he  is  beaten.  The  trial  ended.  As  a  result  of 
the  evidence  in  the  court  room  it  was  announced  that 
Erzberger  had  retired  from  public  life.  Was  he  beaten 
at  last?     And,  if  so,  did  he  know  it? 


VI 

GEORG  LEDEBOUR 

Georg  Ledebour  was  an  Emanuel  Striese  and  had 
the  speech  and  gestures  of  an  actor.  He  was  smooth- 
shaven,  round-faced,  not  very  tall,  with  frowning  brows 
and  piercing  eyes.  His  role  was  Cato,  the  warning, 
threatening,  morose,  moralist  probing  the  wounds  of 
his  own  nation;  a  comedian,  grown  lame  and  toothless 
in  his  sixty-eighth  year,  still  posing  as  the  glorious 
Achilles  when  he  was  only  fit  for  a  Thersites. 

Lebebourski  was  his  nickname  in  the  Reichstag, 
acquired  at  the  time  when  no  one  proteged  the  Poles 
as  much  as  he.  Ledebour-Bude  leer  (hall  empty)  was 
another  pun  because  everyone  ran,  fled,  scrambled  out 
in  any  manner  when  he  began  his  tirade  against  state 
and  society.  The  period  of  his  greatness  was  long 
past.  In  the  days  of  Biilow  he  was  still  respected.  He 
was  then  a  Socialistic  Thor  flashing  thunder  and  light- 
ning from  mouth  and  eyes.  The  Imperial  Chancellor 
was  in  the  habit  of  rising  after  one  of  his  awful  speeches 
to  pour  oil  upon  the  excited  waves.  Ledebour  beamed 
and  the  whole  red  Left  beamed  with  him. 

Before  he  became  the  heart  of  all  things,  before  he 

48 


GEORG  LEDEBOUR 

became  consequential  and  left  off  treading  false  paths, 
before  he  became  the  true  leader  of  the  people,  before 
he  arose  to  these  spiritual  heights,  he  was  once  but  a 
man  —  a  very  small,  human  being.  While  he  was  at- 
tending high  school  in  Hanover,  his  native  city,  he 
wanted  to  become  an  actor.  Like  Demosthenes,  he,  too, 
put  pebbles  in  his  mouth  in  order  to  strengthen  his 
voice  so  that  it  might  drown  the  mighty  roar  of  the 
ocean  (even  if  the  only  water  in  his  neighborhood  was 
the  gently  flowing  Leine).  Rolling  speech  and  rolling 
eyes :  the  great  tragedian  was  ready.  But  there's  many 
a  slip.  The  tragedian  contracted  some  sort  of  trouble 
with  his  legs  and  had  to  give  up  a  stage  career.  He 
became  a  teacher.  At  least  he  would  have  a  patient 
audience  of  children.  But  it  was  difficult  to  climb  to 
the  stars  on  pedagogics.  He  was  not  a  Comenius  or  a 
Pestalozzi;  he  sought  larger  audiences.  He  became 
author  and  editor,  a  democrat,  a  real  beer  Berliner 
democrat.  Slouch  hat,  cape  with  fur  collar,  and  knotted 
staff  were  acquired,  and  a  pince-nez  with  a  long,  silken 
string  showed  the  new  tendency.  His  motto  was :  Eor 
folk  and  freedom. 

At  first  he  wrote  for  the  Democratische  Blatter, 
and  then  for  the  Berliner  Volkszeitung  until  1889-90, 
just  as  Bismarck,  the  terrible  Ivan  of  home  politics, 
gave  his  last  official  snort. 

Ledebour  took  to  the  platform  with  whole  Berlin- 

49 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Pankow  at  his  feet.  He  talked  to  the  crowd  with  hands 
and  feet  as  well  as  mouth.  Bismarck  and  the  Junkers 
he  flayed  alive;  he  charged  the  Socialists  with  fixed 
bayonet.  Socialistic  ideas  ?  Nonsense.  Slavery,  prison 
house.  The  only  real  freedom  was  democracy  —  I  re- 
peat it  once  more,  democracy ! 

Twice  he  was  to  discover  freedom  elsewhere.  Lede- 
bourski  later  gnawed  his  way  through  to  social  democ- 
racy and  here  discovered  the  only  real,  genuine 
democratic  ideals.  Vorwarts  offered  him  a  seat  on  the 
editorial  staff.  (These  times  are  long  past  —  Vorwarts 
and  Ledebour  are  now  as  fire  and  water.)  Here  the 
savage  raged  and  rampaged  worse  than  ever  against 
serfdom,  and  dogma  (but  only  in  the  church,  not  in  the 
party),  against  capitalism,  and  at  least  three  times  a 
day  he  brought  out  a  hurrah  for  the  social  battle.  He 
raged  in  ink  and  screamed  with  the  glue-pot,  and  daily 
cut  in  a  thousand  tiny  scraps  the  whole  Junker  brood, 
capitalism  and  tyranny  of  the  church.  August  Bebel 
prophesied  the  whole  jamboree  for  the  near  future; 
Ledebour  pounded  the  whole  putrified,  Philistine  soci- 
ety into  a  mess,  took  the  consequences  of  his  actions, 
left  the  church  —  this  Union  of  Souls  —  and  became  a 
dissenter.  Prom  this  hour  on  he  frequented  smoke  im- 
pregnated atmospheres  preaching  against  priesthood 
and  brain-muddlers,  with  wildly  waving  arms  and  ten 
outspread  fingers. 

50 


GEORG-  LEDEBOTTR 

Although  his  eyes  rolled  in  beautiful  madness,  he  was 
not  exactly  loved  by  his  party.  Bebel  couldn't  stand 
him.  Ledebour  was  always  at  the  front  on  every  party 
day,  always  a  desperado,  always  the  most  radical,  not 
to  be  beaten  even  by  Adolph  Hoffman,  always  thor- 
oughly opposition,  never  ready  for  any  sort  of  under- 
standing or  compromise.  Bebel  avoided  him;  said  be- 
hind his  back  that  he  was  not  politically  respectable. 
Many  other  party  members  gave  him  a  wide  berth,  too. 
In  Dresden  at  the  great  party  house-cleaning,  Bebel 
gave  him  a  good  going-over,  a  thorough,  blasting,  blight- 
ing dressing  down.  But  Ledebourski  went  on  speaking 
with  even  more  sweeping  gestures.  In  the  meantime 
he  was  sent  to  the  Reichstag  from  Berlin's  sixth  voting 
district,  one  of  the  most  populous  sections  of  the  city, 
where  Wilhelm  Leibknecht  formerly  reigned  supreme. 
Thenceforth  he  represented  the  Rosenthaler  Tor  and 
Pankow  districts  with  the  dignity  of  Robespierre's 
moral  guardian. 

Have  you  ever  heard  him  speak  in  the  Reichstag? 
There  he  is  enveloped  in  the  cloak  of  conviction ;  every 
word  that  springs  from  his  round,  little  mouth  is  a  pearl. 
His  right  arm  is  stretched  out,  hurling  insult  after  in- 
jury. He  moves  his  eyes  around  recklessly,  the  pince-nez 
loses  its  hold,  the  marrow  of  your  bones  begins  to  freeze. 
The  judge  of  the  world  has  arisen,  the  great  reckoning 
is  about  to  be  made.     Just  at  this  moment  the  presi- 

51 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

dent  tinkles  his  little  bell.  Once  —  twice  —  thrice! 
Ledebour  goes  on.  A  call  to  order  falls  upon  his  head. 
He  hestitates.  After  a  few  minutes  another  warning. 
The  present  order  of  the  world  won't  give  up  without 
a  fight.  Once  when  statistics  were  taken  it  was  dis- 
covered that  Ledebour  had  ignored  fifty  calls  to  order 
in  one  day. 

Tie  was  witty,  too, —  witty,  sharp,  and  cutting  as  a 
razor  blade.  He  prepares  his  speeches  himself  at  home 
days  ahead.  At  the  proper  moment  during  the  sitting  a 
party  comrade  interrupts.  Swift  as  the  dot  on  an  "  i  " 
he  gets  a  little  well-prepared  satire  hurled  at  his  unsus- 
pecting head.  If  it  didn't  strike  home,  which  happened 
sometimes,  Ledebour  would  repeat  the  comedy  until  the 
gallery  applauded. 

He  was  one  of  the  first  to  play  split  party  politics. 
He  it  was  who  discovered  the  "  Independent "  social 
democratic  freedom.  Always  ready  to  help,  he  traveled 
now  here,  now  there,  cheering  up  the  masses.  His 
specialty  is  foreign  politics,  especially  Eastern.  He 
long  maintained  a  warm  friendship  for  Russian  revolu- 
tionists. This  is  comprehensible  for  they  only  loved 
one  another  from  afar. 

The  9th  of  November  arrived.  Ledebour's  highest 
ideals  were  fulfilled.  The  theater  demagogue  mixed  in 
"big  politics."  They  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the 
executive  committee  of  the  "Workmen   and   Soldiers' 

52 


GEORG  LEDEBOUR 

councils.  He  took  infinite  pains  to  set  the  whole 
nation  against  Berlin.  His  ambition  knew  no  bounds. 
Everybody  else  was  to  lie  down,  the  Government  along 
with  them.  He  even  came  into  conflict  with  his 
bosom  friends,  Haase  and  Dittmann,  in  the  cabinet. 
In  short,  the  whole  affair  pleased  him  no  longer;  he 
thirsted  for  more  blood,  so  he  went  over  to  Liebknecht, 
Rosa  Luxemburg,  and  Eichhorn,  to  the  Sparticists  and 
communists,  to  upset  the  Government  and  put  himself 
in  its  place.  Already  he  dreamed  of  Imperial  Dictator, 
Ledebour,  Georg  I. 

But  the  second  revolution  failed  miserably  in  spite 
of  the  many  sacrifices,  and  one  night  Ledebour  was 
called  from  his  bed  and  arrested.  He  was  placed  on 
trial,  was  acquitted,  and, —  for  the  time  being, —  Lede- 
bour retired  to  country  life  in  order  to  regain  his 
health. 


VII 

ERNST  VON  HEYDEBRAND  UND  DER  LAASE 

Conspicuously  short  in  stature,  a  dark  brown,  sun- 
burned face,  an  uncared-for,  pointed,  grayish  beard  and 
a  thick  mat  of  hair  like  a  close  trimmed  hedge  on  his 
head,  from  the  middle  of  which  a  lock  ventures  forth, 
Mephistopheles-like,  on  his  brow;  a  shiny,  iridescent, 
holiday  coat  (military  fabrication),  frayed  trousers; 
such  is  Ilerr  von  Heydebrand,  insignificant  little  man, 
as  he  goes  through  the  streets.  Xo  one  would  suspect 
the  "uncrowned  King  of  Prussia  "  in  him ;  rather,  an 
old  clothes  peddler. 

But  he  is  a  born  ruler,  an  East  Elbian  Junker  of 
the  purest  water,  landowner,  master  of  Gellkewe, 
Klein-Wiesenthal,  and  Klein-Tschunkawe.  Here  on 
these  lower  Silesian  estates  with  the  Chinese-Hotten- 
tot sounding  names  he  rules  supreme  —  here  is  his 
voting  district  for  Landtag  and  Reichstag,  He  is 
no  longer  young,  having  already  passed  his  sixty- 
seventh  milestone.  In  Jena,  he  got  his  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Law,  passed  the  usual  state  examination,  and  became 
assistant  judge  in  more  than  one  court.  He  then 
entered  the  Government  of  Opplen,  became  Land- 
rat  in  Keselin,  1882,  and  five  years  later  Landrat  in 

54 


ERXST  VOX  HEYDEBRAXD  TTXD  DER  LAASE 

Militsch-Trachenberg.  After  eight  years  lie  left  the 
service  and  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  politics.  He 
has  been  a  member  of  the  Prussian  Diet  since  1888. 

Herr  von  Ileydebrand  was  not  spectacular.  For  many 
years  no  one  heard  anything  from  him.  He  was  only 
one  of  many,  but  he  grew  with  the  people  and  the  ma- 
terial, because  he  was  industrious  and  did  not  regard 
his  seat  as  a  sport.  As  one  by  one  the  front  men  died 
off,  he  took  his  place  in  the  conservative  faction.  A 
few  years  before  the  war  he  became  leader  of  the 
Reichstag  faction  after  Herr  von  Xormann  departed 
this  life. 

There  we  must  leave  him.  He  was  always  on  the  spot. 
When  all  fled  before  some  speaker  from  the  Left,  he 
remained.  As  party  chief  he  maintained  strict  disci- 
pline. He  was  not  only  general  but  also  little  corporal 
of  the  party.  The  members  of  his  faction  might  re- 
main away  from  the  sittings,  they  might  listen  to  the 
speeches  over  a  glass  of  wine  in  the  Parliament  res- 
taurant, they  might  even  go  walking,  but  they  must  be 
present  when  the  ballot  was  taken.  That  he  insisted 
upon  and  the  members  parried  like  recruits.  At  the 
second  reading  of  the  Prussian  franchise  bill,  when  the 
Left  too  hastily  counted  on  the  absence  of  a  large  part 
of  the  Right,  they  were  all  in  place  to  a  man.  Herr 
von  Ileydebrand  had  commanded  "  Right  about  face," 
and  the  Government  suffered  its  first  heavy  defeat. 

55 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Five  men  made  the  politics  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives—  Heydebrand,  Zedlitz,  Persch,  Friedberg, 
and  Pachnicke  —  all  ripe  in  years  and  wisdom,  cool 
and  objective.  The  most  temperamental  was  Heyde- 
brand; he  ran  like  a  Daimler  motor  with  continuous 
little  explosions.  For  hours  he  could  sit  with  folded 
arms  listening  to  speeches  from  the  Right.  All  at  once 
he  would  spring  up  and  run  like  a  weasel  to  the  speak- 
er's platform.  He  would  not  stand  behind  the  desk  — 
that  would  have  hidden  him  from  view  —  but  stood 
between  the  desk  and  the  Government's  table  and 
began  to  fire  away. 

His  talk  sounded  like  the  rattling  of  a  machine  gun. 
He  did  not  speak  like  most  of  the  others,  wearily 
reading  from  a  manuscript;  a  tiny  visiting  card  on 
which  were  jotted  a  few  hurried  notes  was  crumpled 
in  his  hand.  Rapid  and  witty  was  his  talk;  interrup- 
tions did  not  disturb  him.  He  received  them,  worked 
them  over  in  a  trice,  and  answered  with  pointed 
phrases  that  sometimes  dripped  poison.  He  would 
also  suddenly  pause,  turn  each  word  in  his  fingers  like 
a  gem,  and  then  snap  the  glittering,  venomous  things  at 
the  Government  or  the  Left.  One  listened  to  him  will- 
ingly for  he  is  a  personality  with  his  own  charm.  But 
after  all  he  is  only  a  desperado,  a  fencer  seeking  a  weak 
place  for  his  slender  steel,  more  dialectic  and  tactical 
than  clever,  far-seeing  policy. 

56 


ERXST  YON  HEYDEBRAND  UND  DER  LAASE 

Heydebrand  fouglit  many  a  battle  against  the  land- 
owners, against  the  agrarian  demagogues,  but  they  were 
stronger  than  he.  As  the  cleverer,  he  gave  in,  and  after 
that  he  stood  by  them  through  thick  and  thin.  In  the 
battles  for  finance  reform  in  1909  he  tormented  the  party 
to  the  utmost,  broke  the  Conservative-Liberal  block, 
drove  the  whole  Government  into  a  corner,  made  them 
renounce  what  they  had  repeatedly  determined  upon, 
undermined  their  authority,  and  forced  Prince  Biilow 
to  retire.  And  why?  Because  he  fought  tooth  and 
nail  against  the  inheritance  tax  —  a  tax  which  must 
come  sometime  or  other  as  he  said  himself.  In  the 
same  way  he  damned  the  three-class-system  franchise 
which  he  had  once  declared  "  almost  ideal."  But  the 
result  was  that  both  the  inheritance  tax  and  the  fran- 
chise system  came  about  in  the  natural  course  of  events. 

In  regard  to  foreign  politics  the  Conservatives  were 
already  in  Alldeutscher  (Pan-German)  waters  before 
the  war  broke  out.  Bethmann-Hollweg  steered  for 
reconciliation;  Heydebrand  stoked  the  fire  against 
England.  Then  came  the  famous  clash  between  the 
two.  While  the  Conservative  party  leader  spoke  against 
England,  the  Crown  Prince  sat  in  the  Court  loge 
listening  to  his  words.  I  can  still  see  him  sitting  there, 
both  hands  resting  on  his  saber  propped  up  in  front  of 
him.  And  while  Herr  von  Heydebrand,  downstairs  in 
the  noisy  hall,  was  casting  his  fire  rockets  across  the 

57 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

channel,  the  German  hereditary  prince  applauded  en- 
thusiastically by  lifting  one  hand  and  letting  it  fall 
repeatedly  on  the  back  of  the  other. 

It  was  a  stream,  of  boiling  water  which  Bethmann 
let  loose  in  the  face  of  his  opponent.  Heydebrand  tried 
to  preserve  his  dignity,  but  his  face  visibly  changed 
color.  He  had  not  expected  such  a  cannonade  from  the 
State  Hemorrhoidarius.  After  that  he  left  the  field  to 
Count  Westarp  and  devoted  himself  almost  exclusively 
to  the  Landtag.  One  saw  him  rarely  in  the  Reichs- 
tag, but  he  never  failed  to  appear  when  Bethmann 
spoke.  Then  the  little  man  was  wont  to  growl  and 
mumble  from  his  place  almost  directly  beneath  the 
Chancellor.  From  this  moment  on  Bethmann-IIollweg 
forfeited  his  position  with  the  Conservatives. 

A  battle  unheard  of  in  Prussian  history  began  against 
him.  Everything  Bethmann  did  was  used  against  him 
in  one  way  or  another.  There  was  no  regard  for  for- 
eign countries,  for  the  Monarch,  or  for  the  one  at- 
tacked. He  was  accused  of  shilly-shallying  because  for 
a  long  time  he  could  not  approve  of  introducing  sub- 
marine warfare.  When  he  warned  of  the  danger  of 
America's  entering  the  war  he  was  laughed  down. 
Herr  von  Heydebrand,  who  very  seldom  took  to  the  pen, 
published  an  article  in  the  Kreuzzeitung  whose  twenty 
lines  swept  aside  the  danger.  "America  and  Us  "  was 
the  title  of  this  composition  signed  with  his  full  name. 

58 


ERNST  VON  HEYDEBRAND  UND  DER  LAASE 

Again  Herr  von  Heydebrand  rode  the  wrong  horse. 
Bethmann's  attempt  to  approach  the  Social  Democrats 
and  Free  organizations  was  one  of  the  worst  reproaches 
against  him.  Insinuations  were  poured  into  His  Ma- 
jesty's ears.  The  idea  of  a  League  of  Nations  supported 
by  Bethmann-IIollweg  was  mocked  and  laughed  at,  and 
finally  Herr  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  was  overthrown. 
Heydebrand  remained  victor  upon  a  field  of  corpses. 
But  it  was  a  dearly  bought  victory,  for  Bethmann's 
legacy  still  remained :  the  wish  for  peace,  compromise, 
parliamentary  system,  and  election  reform.  A  solid 
majority  was  formed  in  the  Reichstag  consisting  of  the 
Center,  the  Progressives,  and  the  Social  Democrats; 
the  Conservative  party  was  left  in  splendid  isolation. 
They  were  merely  passed  over  after  this.  They  made 
all  the  more  noise  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
where  they  held  sway  for  a  little  while  longer. 

But  Herr  von  Heydebrand  was  played  out  with  one 
full  sweep  when  Germany's  military  position  grew  so 
bad  and  all  signs  pointed  to  a  storm.  "  This  is  the  end 
of  the  Conservative  party,"  he  moaned.  "  We  have  been 
betrayed." 

From  this  hour  even  the  Conservatives  were  for  equal 
suffrage  and  after  the  revolution  Herr  von  Heydebrand 
retired  from  political  life,  a  "  compromised  personage." 


VIII 

ALFRED  VOX  TIRPITZ 

I  must  devote  a  few  critical  lines  to  the  man  who 
more  than  any  other  German  politician  has  tried  to 
influence  public  opinion  through  literary  channels. 
Journalism  in  the  widest  sense  of  the  word.  I  begin 
pedantically  with  the  first  chajrier. 

Kis  propagandistic  activity  dates  back  to  the  year 
1884.  Even  then  as  a  young  staff  officer,  he  composed 
a  memorial  for  the  Reischstag,  advocating  the  construc- 
tion of  one  hundred  and  fifty  torpedo  boats.  After  this 
little  episode  his  name  was  forgotten.  Wholly  unknown 
to  the  public,  he  continued  his  service  in  the  marine 
department.  Twelve  years  later  he  again  emerged  from 
oblivion  with  another  memorial.  In  the  meantime  he 
had  become  Rear  Admiral.  This  time  he  went  directly 
to  the  Kaiser  and  laid  an  extensive,  costly  plan  for  a 
new  fleet  before  him.  When  the  fact  became  known 
and  parliamentary  circles  began  to  get  uneasy,  the  Gov- 
ernment published  the  following  article  on  the  12th  of 
September,  1896: 

"  Plans  for  increasing  the  navy  have  not  been  laid 
before  His  Majesty  nor  before  any  other  responsible 

60 


ALFRED  YON  TIRPITZ 

person.  Rear  Admiral  Tirpitz  has  never  been  called 
upon  for  any  such  plans  nor  has  he  ever  been  in  a  posi- 
tion to  be  called  upon  for  such.  It  is  not  the  intention 
of  the  marine  executives  to  deviate  from  former  customs 
of  sending  in  a  statement  of  their  needs  to  the  Reichstag, 
nor  will  they  ask  the  Admiralty  for  any  extensive  plans 
or  propositions  for  the  navy." 

A  few  months  later,  in  March,  1897,  the  Imperial 
Chancellor,  Prince  Hohenlohe,  as  well  as  Secretary  of 
the  marine  department,  Herr  Hollmann,  insisted  that 
the  new  propositions  be  placed  in  the  budget.  Herr 
Hollmann  especially  insisted  in  regard  to  the  Tirpitz 
document :  "  Neither  the  allied  Governments  nor  the 
Reichstag  can  bind  themselves  to  any  such  formal  regu- 
lations for  years  ahead.  It  is  quite  impossible,  even  if 
both  desired  to  do  so,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  art 
of  naval  warfare  is  quite  as  changeable  as  that  on  land. 
It  is  quite  impossible  for  the  marine  department  to  say 
what  may  be  needed  ten  years  from  now;  if  conditions 
change  then  you  may  be  sure  our  requirements  will 
change  with  them." 

But  Tirpitz,  who  was  not  yet  knighted  for  his  great 
services,  pulled  the  strings  from  behind,  and  when  the 
Reichstag  Budget  Commission  did  not  swallow  all  the 
naval  demands,  Herr  Hollmann  got  his  walking  papers. 
At  the  same  time  Herr  Tirpitz,  who  until  now  had  been 
commander  of  the  cruiser  division,  was  called  to  the 

61 


LEADERS  OF.  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

head  of  the  marine  department.  Here  was  a  pretty 
kettle  of  fish !  His  memorial,  which  the  Reichstag  had 
just  denied,  was  now  authoritative.  A  new  bill  must 
be  introduced  covering  expenses  for  such  plans.  This 
bill  excited  almost  universal  opposition.  Even  the 
Free  Conservative  and  Liberal  press  were  against  it. 
The  Post  wrote  sarcastically  that  the  navy  would  be 
rendering  a  very  poor  service  with  such  airy  plans  and 
that  altogether  it  was  bad  policy.  Tirpitz  listened  but 
was  not  convinced.  He  knew  the  value  of  the  press, 
therefore  a  press  bureau  was  organized  for  the  marine 
department.  Under  the  harmless  title  of  Reports,  the 
papers  were  furnished  free  of  charge  with  news  from 
the  naval  department.  The  official  papers  were  wholly 
exploited  for  this  purpose,  and  gradually  the  other 
papers  bit.  After  years  of  such  press  work,  Count 
Hertling  declared  it  unbearable  and  Representative 
Miiller-Meiningen  requested  the  Chancellor  to  take  care 
that  the  possibility  of  a  double  foreign  policy  did  not 
arise  on  account  of  the  marine  department's  special 
press  bureau.  The  Reichstag  did  not  scent  the  danger 
at  that  time.  The  Kaiser  sent  comparative  statistics  to 
the  Reichstag  and  even  put  himself  in  the  service  of 
the  marine  as  general  enlightener :  "  The  trident  be- 
longs to  us !  "  and  at  another  time,  "  National  power 
means  sea  power;  one  cannot  exist  without  the  other." 
When  Prince  Heinrich  was  sent  to  strengthen  the  di- 

62 


ALFRED  VOX  TIRPITZ 

vision  in  East  Asia,  in  a  toast  to  his  brother  in  the 
castle  at  Kiel,  the  Monarch  remarked :  "  If  any  one 
undertakes  to  hinder  ns  in  the  acquirement  of  our 
rights  we  will  go  for  them  with  the  mailed  fist !  " 
And  Prince  Heinrich  answered:  "  Fame  does  not  en- 
tice me,  nor  laurel  wreaths ;  one  thing  alone  moves  me 
and  that  is  the  desire  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Tour 
Majesty's  holy  person  to  all  foreign  lands  who  wish  to 
hear  it  and  to  those  who  do  not." 

On  the  30th  of  Xovember  the  Reichstag  finally  ac- 
cepted the  new  navy  bill :  nineteen  battleships,  twelve 
large  and  twenty-four  smaller  cruisers.  The  fleet  was 
increased  one  third,  the  construction  and  payment  — 
almost  a  milliard  —  was  to  cover  a  period  of  six  years. 
This  program  was  accepted  by  a  majority ;  at  least  they 
would  now  have  a  rest  for  six  years.  But  Tirpitz  left 
them  no  peace.  The  press  propaganda  of  the  marine 
bureau  was  not  enough  for  him.  The  advertising  drum 
must  be  beat  a  little  harder.  On  the  30th  of  April  the 
German  Xavy  Verein  was  founded  and  began  its  course 
of  enlightenment  in  great  style.  Correspondence  was 
sent  out,  lectures  given,  placards  and  statistics  placed  in 
every  railroad  station,  and  thousands  of  bureaus,  even 
the  "  movies  "  were  drawn  into  the  service.  The  sug- 
gestion began  to  work.  One  year  and  a  half  later  Tir- 
pitz came  out  with  a  new  navy  law,  again  made  in 
the  dark.    It  was  all  arranged  with  the  "  Most  High  " 

63 


LEADERS  OF,  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 

before  lie  went  to  Baden-Baden  to  obtain  the  approval 
of  the  Chancellor. 

The  new  program  meant  doubling  the  program  of 
1897-98  for  the  years  1901  to  1917.  Once  again  Tir- 
pitz  had  walked  over  the  rights  of  the  Reichstag.  Lib- 
eral speakers  pointed  out  the  danger  of  alarming  the 
world  with  such  a  program,  but  it  made  no  difference, 
Tirpitz  carried  off  the  victory.  Would  one  at  least  have 
peace  until  1917  ?  JSTot  a  bit  of  it.  In  less  than  twelve 
months  another  breach  of  trust  leaked  out  in  the  shape 
of  a  secret  mandate  of  the  marine  Secretary  dating 
from  January  6,  1902.  It  contained  still  another  navy 
law  modestly  expressed  for  1904-05.  A  pretty  little 
maneuver  was  discovered  in  it:  instructions  to  the  of- 
ficials of  the  marine  department  to  stuff  the  payroll 
for  the  Reichstag.  Later  he  tried  to  justify  this,  but 
the  Reichstag  had  grown  distrustful.  On  the  7th  of 
February,  1902,  Eugen  Richter  said: 

"  I  have  seen  many  ministers  come  and  go,  but  I 
have  never  seen  any  who  were  so  little  to  be  trusted  as 
Herr  von  Tirpitz.  I  cannot  but  say  that  Herr  von  Tir- 
pitz's  decree  contains  a  confession  of  dissimulation  and 
a  lack  of  honesty  unfortunately  not  met  with  for  the 
first  time." 

Richter  was  not  called  to  order  by  the  president. 
Even  Dr.  Oertel,  chief  of  the  Deutsche  Tages  Zeitung, 
writes :     "  Does  Herr  von  Tirpitz  really  think  he  has 

64 


ALFRED  YON  TIKPITZ 

any  claim  to  the  confidence  of  the  Reichstag  after 
this  ? ':  Herr  von  Tirpitz  pocketed  everything  with  a 
smile.  He  still  had  the  confidence  of  the  monarch.  He 
heard  these  bitter  truths  more  than  once.  Said  Repre- 
sentative Leonhart: 

"  We  see  once  more  the  pupillaiy  security  of  Herr 
von  Tirpitz's  explanation  confirmed." 

The  strictly  Conservative  president,  Count  Schwerin- 
Lowitz,  was  called  upon  for  order,  hut  he  smilingly 
shook  his  head  with  the  remark  that  he  was  not  in  a 
position  to  call  to  order  for  the  reproach  was  meant  for 
the  Imperial  marine  department.  With  light  sarcasm 
Dr.  Struve  said  more  than  once  that  the  State  Secre- 
tary's flights  into  higher  mathematics  were  difficult  to 
follow. 

Three  times  more,  although  everything  was  supposed 
to  be  settled  until  1917,  the  State  Secretary  came  be- 
fore the  Reichstag  with  new  bills  for  1906,  1908,  and 
1912.     New  cruisers,  new  battle  ships,  the  old  song. 

It  was  old  Bismarck  who  said  with  prophetic  insight : 
"  I  am  very  mistrustful  of  parade  ships  which  serve 
only  as  a  mark  of  prestige ;  when  things  become  serious 
they  are  no  good.  The  most  important  thing  for  us  is 
a  strong  army.  That  was  also  Moltke's  opinion.  I  am 
thoroughly  convinced  that  we  shall  have  to  fight  our 
decisive  battles  on  land,  even  those  in  regard  to  our 
colonial  possessions.     Therefore  no  fantastic  plans  that 

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LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

we  shall  have  to  fight  over  later."  And  further :  "  I 
should  like  to  know  what  assailant  is  thought  of.  I  hope 
not  one  who  may  first  become  our  foe  when  un-German 
greed  for  prestige  and  a  hurried  equipment  at  sea  serve 
to  drive  him  into  a  coalition  against  us."  Tirpitz  was 
of  another  opinion.  He  built  and  built  and  drove  Eng- 
land into  that  coalition  feared  by  Bismarck. 

Although  he  was  really  the  father  of  the  war,  he  pre- 
tended not  to  know  it.  Perhaps  he  really  did  not  know 
it,  which  makes  it  all  the  more  incomprehensible  for  a 
politician. 

In  November,  1914,  he  was  interviewed  by  von  Wie- 
gan,  an  American  journalist.  He  said :  "  I  was  one 
of  those  who  would  not  believe  this  war  would  come." 
In  the  spring  of  1914  his  speeches  were  so  cheerful  and 
self-confident  that  Herr  Bassermann  cried  out  with  joy : 
"  I  am  convinced  that  the  relaxation  between  us  and 
England  is  made  possible  only  by  our  large  navy.  This 
relaxation  is  the  best  proof  of  the  correctness  of  our 
naval  policy." 

Oh,  yes,  the  gentlemen  representatives  all  gradually 
learned  to  dance  to  his  music.  He  knew  how  to  ar- 
range everything  so  beautifully.  Now  they  were  in- 
vited to  visit  the  Imperial  yards  at  Kiel  and  Danzig, 
now  to  inspect  the  ships  or  attend  a  maneuver,  and 
always  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  was  the  most  gra- 
cious host  who  had  drilled  his  people  on  board  to  be 


ALFKED  VOX  TIRPITZ 

equally  obliging.  He  always  managed  to  talk  confi- 
dentially to  one  or  another  of  the-  parliamentarians. 
He  assured  liberal  men  that  lie  was  thoroughly  liberal 
in  his  views  —  of  course  he  must  preserve  a  certain  re- 
serve for  the  public  —  approached  the  Center  with  a 
friendly  mien,  expressed  his  sympathy  for  the  Catho- 
lics, promised  to  see  to  it  that  strict  church  discipline 
was  maintained  on  board,  and  what  was  no  joke  —  he 
transplanted  several  Catholics  to  that  purely  Protestant 
island,  Heligoland,  in  order  to  impress  the  Center.  He 
soft-soaped  them  all.  Even  when  the  war  unraveled  the 
whole  submarine  question,  he  knew  how  to  maintain  the 
aura  of  a  dignified  statesman  falsely  accused.  With, 
that  we  come  to  the  second  chapter. 

We  have  already  said  that  von  Tirpitz's  naval  policy 
was  the  real  cause  of  the  World  War.  Have  we  had  any 
success  at  sea  from  his  plans  ?  Here  we  see  the  tragedy 
of  the  policy  for  which  Tirpitz  had  most  of  the  Ger- 
man people  hypnotized.  We  had  to  dismantle  a  part 
of  our  ships  because  the  material  was  needed  for  sub- 
marines. Our  warfare  at  sea  was  almost  entirely  con- 
fined to  U-boats.  Tirpitz  not  only  did  not  encourage 
the  building  of  submarines,  but  actually  hindered  it, 
because  he  did  not  understand  the  significance  of  this 
weapon.  This  was  his  second  great  political  mistake. 
While  England  and  France  feverishly  built  submarines, 
Tirpitz  would  hear  nothing  of  them.     He  adopted  the 

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LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

"watchful  waiting"  policy.  Technical  people  and 
progressive  politicians  pressed  him;  he  showed  them 
the  cold  shoulder  and  went  on  building  large  ships  even 
after  the  war  started.  One  could  not  put  commanders, 
captains,  and  admirals  at  the  head  of  a  U-boat,  and 
there  must  be  some  place  for  such  high  personages. 
There  were  put  in  service  before  the  war:  in  1906,  one 
submarine;  in  1907,  one;  in  1908,  one;  in  1909,  two; 
in  1910,  one;  1911,  five;  1912,  five;  1913,  six;  and  in 
1914,  up  to  the  outbreak  of  war,  four. 

In  November,  1914,  Tirpitz  boasted  to  von  Wiegand, 
the  American,  that  he  could  cut  England  off  with  big 
submarines;  he  could  torpedo  every  ship  that  left  the 
harbors  of  Scotland  or  England,  and  starve  them  out. 
The  whole  world  pricked  up  its  ears.  What  real  power 
had  the  Secretary  behind  him  then?  Fantastic  num- 
bers were  mentioned.  In  February,  1915,  he  came  out 
with  the  proclamation:  "War  against  merchant  ships! 
Eighteen  submarines  with  oil  motors  —  old  iron  from 
1909  —  and  perhaps  a  dozen  newer  ones  with  Diesel 
motors  were  at  his  disposal  according  to  Representative 
Struve.  This  was  the  iron  curtain  he  was  to  drop  all 
round  England!  Then  came  his  demand  for  unre- 
stricted submarine  warfare.  Bethmann-Hollweg  prop- 
hesied war  with  America  in  this  event.  Tirpitz  laughed 
at  him.  In  January  of  1918  he  said  to  the  Berlin  cor- 
respondent, Paul  Lothringer,  of  the  Neuen  Poster  Jour- 

68 


ALFRED  VON  TIRPITZ 

nal:  "America's  help  is,  and  always  will  be,  a  myth." 
He  was  overthrown  in  1916  on  account  of  his  desire 
for  unrestricted  submarine  warfare.  Now  he  brought 
everything  he  could  catch  in  his  nets  against  the  Gov- 
ernment. A  campaign  without  equal  was  begun  against 
Bethmann-Hollweg,  and  Tirpitz  was  boosted  in  the  All- 
deutsch,  the  Conservative,  and  the  Liberal  press,  as  a 
"  misjudged  genius."  In  a  memorial  he  assured  the 
public  that  England  could  be  starved  out  in  six  months. 
In  1916  he  had  already  told  Representative  Erzberger 
that  it  could  be  done  in  six  weeks.  After  January, 
1917,  we  had  the  submarine  warfare  and,  as  a  result, 
war  with  America  and  several  other  seafaring  na- 
tions —  and  England  began  to  triumph. 

But  Tirpitz  knew  how  to  avoid  criticism  for  several 
months.  It  is  not  difficult  to  guess  how.  He  could 
occupy  Conservative  publicity  mongers  who  lauded  him 
as  the  prophet  of  the  U-boat  war  and  damned  Bethmann- 
Hollweg,  while  the  other  side  was  compelled  to  keep 
silent  because  the  censor  demanded  it.  Tirpitz  became 
the  powder  keg  of  home  politics.  Civil  peace  was  shat- 
tered on  account  of  him  and  the  battle  about  his  person. 

So  we  come  to  the  third  and  last  chapter. 

The  German  Fatherland's  party  was  founded.  Tir- 
pitz at  the  head  associated  with  the  wildest  annexa- 
tionists. It  was  chiefly  directed  against  England.  In 
the  most  diverse  assemblies  he  began  his  song  of  hate 

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LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

for  England  which  invariably  ended  with  the  words: 
"  We  must  have  the  coast  of  Flanders !  "  One  must 
not  forget  that  Tirpitz  had  not  always  had  the  words 
"  perfidious  Albion  "  in  his  mouth.  He  once  said :  "  I 
grew  up  in  friendship  for  England  and  the  English; 
as  seaman  I  have  never  failed  to  recognize  the  great 
side  of  this  world  power."  His  offshoot,  who  wore 
father's  blue  coat  with  fewer  stripes  on  the  sleeve,  fell 
into  British  hands  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  war  in 
1914.  Later  when  the  joyful  telegram  was  sent  from 
London  that  son  was  well  and  enjoying  himself  at  ten- 
nis with  the  wife  of  the  Naval  Minister,  Churchill,  the 
English  papers  wrote :  "  Surely  '  Gott  strafe  England  ' 
is  not  a  prayer  that  Herr  von  Tirpitz  be  received  into 
the  lap  of  the  family.  His  wife  and  two  daughters  were 
educated  in  Chattenham  College ;  his  son,  now  our  pris- 
oner, is  an  Oxford  man.  Tirpitz  himself  has  never 
concealed  his  admiration  for  the  English  character;  he 
has  introduced  the  methods  of  our  soldiery  at  home 
down  to  the  last  uniform  button."  And  to-day  ?  Well, 
times  do  change ;  but  no  quicker  than  Herr  von  Tirpitz. 
He  puffed  the  Fatherland  party  with  money  and  ad- 
vertising; sent  his  agitators  up  and  down  the  land. 
Advertisements  were  let  off  by  the  thousands,  like  the 
sparks  from  skyrockets.  They  penetrated  bureaus  and 
officers;  placards  in  glaring  colors  were  pasted  every- 
where:   in  stations,  on  houses,  on  the  streets,  and  the 

TO 


ALFRED  YON  TIRPITZ 

dernier  cri  in  political  propaganda — a  storm  of  tele- 
grams—  was  rained  upon  the  Kaiser,  the  Crown 
Prince,  and  Hindenburg.  With  huge  sums  at  his  dis- 
posal Tirpitz  organized  a  campaign  against  the  Govern- 
ment aud  the  Reichstag  majority.  His  confidants 
reckoned  he  would  be  at  the  head  of  things  by  February, 
1918,  at  the  very  latest.  Then  Count  Hertling  would 
be  laid  on  the  shelf.  And  the  coast  of  Flanders  ?  Grad- 
ually the  leading  lights  explained  that  they  would  leave 
Belgium  iutact.  The  Belgian  question  was  a  moral 
factor  for  the  whole  world.  Without  a  moral  victory 
the  world  markets  would  remain  closed  to  Germany 
after  peace  was  declared,  and  Germany's  economical 
life  would  receive  a  mortal  wound.  But  Tirpitz  over- 
looked all  this.  Like  a  naughty  child  he  would  have 
his  Flanders  coast.  Of  course,  for  strategic  reasons, 
"  we  must  have  a  naval  base  against  England." 

These  "  practical  politics  "  collapsed  in  a  few  months, 
and  this  same  Fatherland  party  saw  itself  compelled 
to  support  Prince  Max's  cabinet  and  mix  with  the  demo- 
crats if  they  did  not  wish  to  lose  the  ground  beneath 
their  feet.  During  his  twenty  years  of  political  activity 
Tirpitz  always  rode  the  wrong  horse.  He  can  look  back 
over  an  unbroken  chain  of  mistakes  and  failures.  Even 
the  Alldeutscher  papers,  whose  idol  he  was,  reproached 
him  ten  years  ago  with  "  not  having  made  the  most  of 
his  opportunities." 

71 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

"When  the  Tirpitz  navy  started  the  revolution,  Tirpitz 
made  tracks  for  Switzerland  in  order  to  write  in  Swit- 
zerland's rarified  mountain  air  his  memoirs  —  a  fairy- 
tale, though  not  devoid  of  strong  personal  interest, 
filled  with  acrimonious  charges  against  his  colleagues 
and  former  associates,  but  still  —  a  Tirpitz  book. 
Perhaps  he  is  Admiral  of  the  Swiss  navy  now. 


V 


IX 

FKIEDRICH  NAUMANN 

There  is  a  large  cleft  between  the  secular  Evangelical 
Church  and  ordinary  mankind.  Secularized  Christian- 
ity has  so  many  thousand  interests  that  have  nothing 
to  do  with  love  or  charity.  Consistories  and  synods  have 
shoved  the  whole  bureaucratic  apparatus  of  the  church 
somewhere  between  heart  and  intellect,  thereby  winning 
the  purely  worldly  protection  of  the  throne  and  the  self- 
ish, economical  interests  of  all  those  who  surround  the 
throne.  Those  who  look  upon  Christ  as  a  Comforter, 
as  a  Redeemer,  those  who  are  weary  and  heavy-laden, 
were  pushed  aside  and  left  to  wander  their  own  way  in 
socialism. 

This  Royal  Prussian  Evangelical  Secular  Christian- 
ity stripped  itself  of  the  last  vestige  of  human  charity 
during  the  war;  over  the  horsehair  garment  of  for- 
giveness they  drew  on  the  mailed  shirt  of  battle.  With 
my  own  ears  I  have  heard  from  the  pulpit  a  justification 
of  hate.  The  father  of  literary  Satanism  would  have 
rejoiced  at  it.  It  was  good  tone  in  church  circles  to 
belong  to  the  Fatherland  party  whose  motto  was  war 
ad  infinitum.     Traub  was  an  example  of  this. 

73 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

This  discordance  between  the  teachings  of  Christian- 
ity and  the  ways  of  life  has  always  appalled  the  genu- 
ine preachers  of  God's  Word  —  especially  the  modern 
technical  world,  the  world  of  machinery  that  atomizes 
human  work  and  renders  the  life  of  the  masses  joyless. 
Shall  I  name  a  few  of  these  genuine  souls  such  as 
Kierkegaard,  Emerson,  Kalthoff,  Jatho?  There  are 
many  more. 

Friedrich  Naumann's  name  must  not  be  omitted  in 
this  list  of  upright  men.  He,  too,  sees  the  misery  of  the 
masses  with  clairvoyant  insight  that  penetrates  to  the 
innermost  recesses  of  the  soul ;  would  like  to  help  but  can 
do  so  very  little  as  an  individual.  As  pastor,  as  theo- 
logian, shall  he  only  talk  and  talk?  Shall  he  seek  to 
satisfy  mankind  with  the  hard  bread  of  ancient  history, 
with  comparisons  from  a  book  of  the  past  ?  Or  shall  he 
spring  into  the  horrors  of  daily  life,  leave  the  word  for 
the  deed  ?    He  chose  the  latter. 

IsTaumann  was  born  in  1860,  in  a  little  Saxon  village, 
Stormthal;  entered  the  Nikolai  gymnasium  at  Leipzig 
and  was  then  sent  to  the  Fiirsten  school  at  Meissen.  He 
studied  theology  at  Leipzig  and  Erlangen,  but  mere 
preaching  did  not  satisfy  him.  Like  a  friar  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  he  entered  the  Rauhe  House  at  Hamburg. 
His  field  was  home  missions.  He  came  to  Glauchau, 
that  dingy,  poverty-stricken  factory  district  in  Saxony, 
where  there  were  only  chimneys  and  chimneys;  where 

V4 


FRIEDKICH  NATTMANN 

the  people  walked  with  crooked  backs  through  narrow, 
smoky  streets.  He  was  then  called  to  Frankfurt  am 
Main  as  pastor  of  the  southwest  German  conference. 

It  was  the  year  1890  that  Bismarck's  era  came  to  an 
end.  In  the  world  of  literature  young  Germany  ap- 
peared with  her  crass  naturalism.  The  youthful  Kaiser 
proclaimed  the  beginning  of  a  new  social  epoch.  In  an 
intoxication  of  enthusiasm  the  intellectuals  turned  to 
socialism.  The  Bismarckian  nightmare  seemed  lifted 
from  humanity.  Naumann  took  his  place  in  the  ranks 
of  those  who  were  pressing  forward,  believing  he  could 
do  good  work  from  the  pulpit.  His  first  book  ap- 
peared :  The  Social  Program  of  the  Evangelical  Church. 
"  "What  is  Christian  Socialism  ? "  he  asks  in  a  second 
book.  In  1894  he  wrote  his  Social  Letters  to  Rich 
People,  at  the  same  time  working  on  other  ideas: 
Jesus  as  a  Man  of  the  People,  God's  Help,  etc. 

He  had  the  courage  of  his  convictions.  A  number 
of  fellow-thinkers  gathered  to  his  support,  theologians, 
students,  people  who  longed  to  break  loose  from  the 
heartbreaking  monotony  of  an  officially  approved  and 
stamped  career.  The  National  Socialist  party  was 
founded;  national  socialism  and  democracy  on  the  one 
side,  army  and  navy  enthusiasm  on  the  other.  Eugen 
liichter  made  fun  of  this  socialistic  imperialism,  but  it 
made  no  difference  to  them.  The  Ililfe  became  the 
organ  of  these  disciples  with  Nauniann  as  publisher, 

75 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Martin  Wenck,  a  theologian,  as  editor-in-chief,  and 
Friedrich  Wemhausen,  also  a  man  of  God,  as  general 
secretary  of  the  new  party.  Everything  looked  rosy. 
In  Berlin  a  paper  called  Zeit  was  started  with  !N"au- 
mann  as  editor.  Paul  Rohrbach  lent  his  services,  but 
it  did  not  last  long.  After  three  quarters  of  a  year  the 
paper  went  to  sleep,  appearing  for  a  short  time  there- 
after as  a  weekly. 

In  the  meantime,  these  young  theologians  plunged  into 
the  election  battle.  In  1898  Naumann  was  candidate 
in  Jena-lSTeustadt.  Bassermann  carried  off  the  victory. 
Five  years  later  he  again  ran  for  the  Reichstag  but  in 
vain.  Only  two  National  Socialists  reached  the  goal: 
TIellmut  von  Gerlach  and  Heinz  Potthof.  After  this 
unsatisfactory  showing  the  party  regarded  the  affair 
as  hopeless  and  was  soon  after  dissolved.  Some  went 
over  to  the  Social  Democrats  and  the  others,  among 
whom  was  Friedrich  Naumann,  went  over  to  the  Liberal 
organization.  Naumann  had  devoted  himself  in  the 
meantime  to  political  journalism.  Every  year  two  or 
three  books  appeared  from  his  pen. 

The  confession  of  his  faith  is  laid  down  in  Democracy 
and  Imperialism.  He  held  both  factors  as  compatible. 
In  the  Norddeutschen  Wirtschaftspolitik  he  justifies  the 
economical  demands  of  capitalism  but  leaves  the  ques- 
tion open,  whether  in  the  future,  when  the  whole  world 
is  capitalized,  socialism  will  not  come  of  itself.     Aes- 

76 


FRIEDRICH  KAUMAKN 

thetic  problems  interested  him,  pedagogy  also;  tie  cast 
a  network  of  new  thoughts  over  everything,  wrote  on  the 
most  diverse  subjects.    His  publications  were  enormous. 

At  the  end  of  1907  he  finally  reached  the  Reichstag. 
His  hour  had  come  at  last,  so  it  seemed.  !Now  he  could 
get  busy  in  great  style,  and  the  nation,  the  world  of  cul- 
ture, would  listen  to  his  words.  His  first  speech  on 
the  relationship  of  employers  and  employees  in  the  mod- 
ern industrial  world  created  a  sensation  in  the  press. 
It  was  far  above  petty  party  quarrels.  He  uttered  great 
thoughts  in  splendid  language.  Only  those  in  the  party 
thoughtfully  shook  their  heads,  and  slowly  a  glass  wall 
was  built  around  him.  The  "  slave  uprising  "  began. 
He  might  talk  all  he  pleased  on  party  days,  he  could 
let  himself  be  applauded  by  enthusiastic  audiences  else- 
where, but  in  the  Reichstag  he  was  frozen  out.  Here 
reigned  minores  dii  —  arteriosclerosis  —  and  new  blood 
was  not  desired. 

Naumann,  who  had  discovered  the  fairy  flower  of 
liberalism,  was  himself  pushed  to  the  wall.  This  was 
shameful  but  unfortunately  true.  He  was  not  practical 
enough.  That  may  be;  a  trace  of  romanticism  was 
not  to  be  denied.  Intuitively  he  found  interpreta- 
tions, formulas  easily  comprehended  by  the  masses,  for 
even  the  most  rigid  political  conceptions.  He  had  a 
tendency  to  formulize  his  policies.  His  happily  dis- 
covered word,  "  Middle  Europe,"  in  a  book  of  the  same 

77 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

name,  led  to  the  suspicion  that  Germany  intended  pro- 
longing the  present  economical  war  indefinitely. 

He  speaks  as  he  writes,  picturesquely,  clearly,  often 
playing  with  allegories.  His  voice  is  not  full,  not  even 
sympathetic;  it  is  rather  creaking,  almost  hoarse,  but 
a  wealth  of  ideas  and  viewpoints  adorns  all  he  says. 

He  failed  at  the  last  Reichstag  election  in  Heilhronn 
in  1912.  He  was  finally  elected  by  Waldeck-Pyrmont 
where  anti-Semitism  courageously  lifted  up  its  head. 
An  inner  demon  drove  him  over  onto  new  shores.  He 
continued  his  Samaritan  service  every  week  in  the  col- 
umns of  the  Hilfe.  He  found  new  ways  and  aims  for 
the  Home  Mission  —  Home  Mission  as  he  saw  it.  In 
the  National  Assembly  he  found  a  field  for  his  political 
romanticism.  He  became  the  leader  of  the  Democratic 
Party.  But  just  when  his  hand  reaches  out  for  new 
plans,  the  heart  of  the  great  exponent  of  eternal  human 
rights  stops  beating  and  —  Xaumann  is  no  more. 


WILHELM  II 

A  fresh,  lively  youth,  bubbling  over  with  spirits, 
Hinzpeter  once  complained  that  Prince  Wilhelm  was 
a  wide-awake  and  gifted  lad  but  difficult  to  lead.  In  a 
letter  of  another  teacher,  we  find  the  following: 
"  You  reproach  me  for  not  being  more  strict  with 
the  Prince.  You  do  not  know  the  difficulties  with 
which  I  have  to  contend.  Wilhelm  has  slipped  out  of 
my  hands  altogether  and  is  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the 
military  camarilla;  the  unfavorable  influence  of  the 
Potsdam  guards  shows  itself  more  plainly  from  day 
to  day."  Wilhelm  was  sent  to  the  Potsdam  Govern- 
ment to  acquaint  himself  with  the  work  under  President 
Achenbach.    3Iad,  hobbledehoy  days  began. 

The  Prince  played  the  silliest  pranks  with  the  beau- 
tiful Kitty  at  Kietz's,  and  in  the  casino  of  the  First 
Regiment  of  the  Guard  he  was  the  wildest  of  all.  Cham- 
pagne glasses  were  smashed  on  the  candelabra;  mirrors 
served  as  targets,  and  drinking  was  carried  on  on  a 
wager.  The  Potsdam  Philistine  shook  his  head  dis- 
approvingly, but  in  a  residence  city  it  was  the  custom 
of  the  subject  to  speak  only  when  he  was  told  to  by  the 
authorities. 

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LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Marriage  did  not  put  a  stop  to  this  fermenting  pro- 
cess. Grandfather  grew  old  and  older  (would  he  live 
forever?),  father  was  ill  with  no  hope  of  recovery,  and 
Wilhelm  began  to  play  with  the  idea  of  very  soon 
ascending  the  Imperial  German  throne. 

Flatterers  crowded  around  him,  people  looking  for- 
ward to  future  favors.  He  made  plan  after  plan  in 
secret :  "  When  I  am  Kaiser  the  world  will  sit  up  and 
take  notice;  I  shall  make  Germany  great  and  set  the 
pace  for  everything:  politics,  music,  art,  literature  — 
in  short,  Kultur.  If  I  could  only  get  rid  of  that 
nasty  old  hear,  Bismarck,  respectably !  " 

The  hour  came  that  placed  him  at  the  head  of  Ger- 
many's destiny.  He  was  now  a  man  of  thirty,  but 
juvenility  remained  in  his  blood,  as  shown  by  his  plans, 
his  continual  self-aggrandizement,  troubling  about  his 
own  soul,  this  eternal  grasping  after  new  impressions, 
lack  of  perseverance,  craze  for  publicity,  and  monstrous 
egoism. 

The  men  who  surrounded  him  were  more  cunning 
than  he;  Generals  began  to  kiss  his  hand,  he  liked  to 
see  it  in  his  Caesar  romancing.  Bismarck,  the  brake- 
man  and  admonisher,  was  thrown  out  and  now  began 
the  race  for  royal  favor.  It  fairly  rained  orders,  titles, 
and  patents  of  nobility.  In  the  Golden  Book  of  Munich, 
this  monarch  ever  greedy  for  homage,  wrote:  Regis 
voluntas  suprema  lex.     And  the  people,   lowered  by 

80 


WILHELai  II 

these  words  from  mastery  to  mere  subjection,  hurrahed 
and  threw  flowers  at  him  in  their  enthusiasm.  He  jour- 
neyed from  city  to  city  making  speech  after  speech 
amidst  waving  flags  and  garlands. 

A  characteristic  picture:  On  the  1st  of  July,  1901, 
the  Kaiser  was  on  board  the  little  cruiser,  Nijmplie,  in 
the  bay  of  Liibeck,  in  order  to  watch  the  torpedo  prac- 
tice for  Kiel  week.  There  was  a  large  following  on 
board.  In  the  intervals  between  shooting,  the  Kaiser 
would  enter  the  chart  room  in  order  to  attend  to  the 
signing  of  documents.  Tirpitz  laid  the  papers  before 
him  and  the  Kaiser  scrawled  his  enormous  Wilhelm 
underneath.  When  this  grew  monotonous  he  glanced 
up  at  an  officer  standing  near  and  said:  "Terrible, 
this  Tirpitz  with  his  ink !  I  would  rather  have  a  glass 
of  champagne."  "  At  your  service,  sir,"  rumbled  the 
officer,  and  ordered  a  bottle  of  Ileidsieck.  (French 
champagne  had  to  be  labeled  "  BurgefT-Griin  "  because 
the  Kaiser  wished  to  believe  he  had  good  old  German 
wine  before  him.)  The  Kaiser  drank  all  but  a  little, 
then  went,  glass  in  hand,  on  the  bridge  and  called  down 
to  the  deck  where  the  whole  gathering  stood  in  gala 
uniform :  "  Ila  —  Hahnke,  you  like  champagne,  too !  " 
and  threw  the  rest  of  the  glass  onto  the  people  below. 
"  Too  gracious,  Your  Majesty,"  stammered  the  gentle- 
man underneath,  bowing  deeply.  The  Kaiser,  in  high, 
good  humor,   again  entered  the  chart  room   and   de- 

81 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

manded  something  to  eat.  He  was  handed  caviar  on 
toast.  He  smeared  the  butter  and  caviar  from  one  piece 
with  his  forefinger,  licked  his  finger  off  and  went  back 
to  the  bridge :  "  Ha  —  Hahnke,  you'd  like  some  bread, 
too !  "  and  threw  the  piece  of  toast  down  upon  Hahnke 
and  his  consorts.  Another  "  Gracious,  Your  Majesty," 
was  the  devoted  answer.  Then  in  a  whisper  His  Ma- 
jesty asked  an  officer  standing  near  about  the  speed  of 
the  boat.  "  Ha  —  Hahnke,  how  many  knots  does  this 
ship  make  an  hour  ?  ':  As  the  Colonel  stammered  his 
lack  of  knowledge:  "  Ila  —  Hahnke  doesn't  know  any- 
thing. It  makes  twenty-one  knots  an  hour  and  with 
you  it's  twenty-two." 

The  conceit  of  the  Kaiser  was  partly  due  to  the 
people  around  him;  he  valued  them  as  they  wished  to 
be  valued.  He  treated  them  like  old  clothes.  His 
lackeys  suffered  under  his  moods  and  temper  and  his 
use  of  men  in  the  ministry,  in  the  army  and  in  society, 
was  ruthless. 

Another  picture:  It  was  on  the  6th  of  September, 
1901,  before  the  slender,  Gothic,  Rathaus  tower  in 
Danzig.  The  Empress'  bodyguards  were  sent  to  Lang- 
fuhr  to  join  the  Emperor's  Hussars.  The  entrance  into 
the  city  through  the  triple-arched  Grime  Tor  on  Langen 
Markt  was  particularly  impressive.  The  parade  stopped 
before  the  Rathaus  at  the  entrance  to  Langgasse,  with 
Mackensen,  the  new  commander,  at  the  head,  the  Kaiser 

82 


WILHELM  II 

opposite,  both  on  horseback.  Dr.  Clemens  Delbriick, 
mayor  of  the  city,  bade  him  welcome.  A  thousand 
people  thronged  the  streets,  windows  and  balconies,  wait- 
ing to  join  in  the  "  Eoch  "  which  was  to  be  led  by  the 
dignified  Behren,  president  of  the  city  council.  All  at 
once  a  whisper  went  through  the  throng.  An  adjutant 
rode  up  to  the  Kaiser;  he  inclined  his  head  and  the 
adjutant  whispered  something  in  his  ear.  The  mon- 
arch's cheerful  face  suddenly  grew  black;  his  horse 
reared.  "William  McKinley,  his  friend,  the  great  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  had  just  been  shot  by  the 
anarchist,  Czolgosz,  while  visiting  the  exposition  at 
Buffalo.  The  relentless  Goddess  of  Fate  lifted  a  warn- 
ing finger  in  the  midst  of  this  jubilation.  "  Re- 
member," she  whispered  to  the  Kaiser,  "  remember 
America." 


lie  tried  to  put  his  stamp  on  the  whole  human  cul- 
ture of  his  period,  from  pointed  mustache  to  poetry, 
music,  art,  even  machinery  and  architecture.  He  went 
mad  over  monuments.  ISTot  even  the  tiniest  village 
dared  be  without  a  Kaiser  Wilhelm  monument.  lie 
grasped  the  lyre  and  composed  that  frightful  song  to 
Aegir;  he  interfered  with  the  work  of  the  stage  man- 
ager, painted  pictures,  and  corrected  architectural  de- 
signs. Everything  he  touched  must  be  pompous,  sense- 
lessly overloaded  with  adornment.     This  "Wilhelm  tam- 

83 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 

tarn  baroque  was  little  suited  to  the  simple,  industrious 
German  people  who,  more  than  any  other  nation  in  the 
world,  worked  day  and  night,  unceasingly,  to  bring 
their  nation  up  to  the  standard  and  win  the  respect  of 
the  world.  This  parvenu  succeeded  in  gradually  in- 
fecting the  whole  people  with  his  blow-your-own-horn 
propaganda.  When  the  architect  brought  the  plans  for 
the  Kaiser  Wilhelm  Memorial  church,  Wilhelm  rejoiced 
at  the  star  above  the  cross  on  the  steeple,  praising  it  as 
an  original  idea.  The  architect  did  not  venture  to  tell 
him  the  star  merely  pointed  to  a  remark  in  the  foot- 
notes. This  was  the  Kaiser  —  superficial,  incidental, 
casual. 


Only  one  thing  he  recognized  in  foggy  mysticism  as 
being  above  him,  and  that  was  God.  Lucky  for  God 
that  he  remained  invisible  and  let  Wilhelm  talk  on  with- 
out putting  himself  in  the  painful  position  of  having 
to  contradict  him.  On  the  Seventh  Sunday  after  Trin- 
ity, A.  D.  1900,  at  the  time  of  the  troubles  in  China, 
the  Kaiser  preached  on  board  the  Hohenzollern,  tak- 
ing as  his  text  Exodus  xvii,  verse  11:  And  it  came 
to  pass,  when  Moses  held  up  his  hand,  that  Israel  pre- 
vailed: and  when  he  let  down  his  hand,  Amalek 
prevailed.  "  Our  text  for  to-day  brings  a  profound 
picture  before  our  souls.  Israel  wanders  through 
the  desert  from  the  Red  Sea  to  Mount  Sinai.     Sud- 

84 


WILHELM  II 

denly  the  heathen  Amalekites  cross  their  path.  A 
battle  ensues.  Joshua  leads  Israel  into  battle;  sword 
rattles  against  sword;  a  bloody  struggle  begins  in 
the  valley  of  Raphidim.  While  the  armies  rage  to 
and  fro  the  pious  men  of  God,  Aaron  and  Hur,  climb 
to  the  top  of  the  mountain  and  lift  up  their  hands  in 
prayer.  Below  in  the  valley,  battling  troops,  above,  the 
praying  men;  that  is  the  battle  cry  of  our  text.  Who 
does  not  understand  the  meaning  of  this  image  ?  Again 
the  Amalekite  hordes  have  arisen  in  the  far  East.  With 
fire  and  sword,  with  power  and  cunning,  will  we  pave 
the  way  for  European  trade  and  European  culture; 
Christian  customs  and  Christian  faith  shall  win  the 
victory,"  and  so  on.  Fourteen  year's  later  Wilhelm 
prayed  and  prayed  all  through  the  war,  but  his 
enemies  carried  off  the  victory.  He  was  always 
playing  theater;  like  a  bad  comedian  he  mistook  fan- 
tastic imagination  for  reality  and  seriously  believed 
himself  to  be  the  prophet  of  his  people,  the  Chosen  One 
of  God.  The  men  surrounding  him  strengthened 
this  notion  although  they  themselves  saw  through  this 
clerical  spook.  Bismarck  said  he  was  a  man  who 
wanted  to  celebrate  his  birthday  every  day. 


"Just  leave  social  democracy  to  me,"  he  remarked  to 
one  of  his  ministers  as,  undisturbed  by  the  Old  Man 
of  the  Sachsenwald,  he  sowed  a  few  political  wild  oats. 

85 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Indeed,  at  first  Wilhelm  was  full  of  grand  ideas,  social 
reforms,  etc.  He  wished  to  satisfy  everybody  —  Social- 
Democrats,  Liberals,  and  Center.  This  wise,  thirty- 
year-old  father  of  his  country  wished  to  display  his 
imperial  graciousness  to  all.  The  social  reform  proc- 
lamation of  February,  1S90,  was  issued;  duties  on  grain 
were  reduced;  Bismarck's  laws  against  social  democracy, 
the  Center,  and  the  Poles,  were  rescinded ;  a  great  school 
reform  was  announced ;  in  public  speeches  the  monarch 
promised  his  people  the  beginning  of  a  glorious  epoch. 
This  lasted  scarcely  three  years.  Even  on  the  20th  of 
February,  1891,  he  complained  that  he  was  neglected 
and  shook  his  fist  at  the  bogey  man  in  Friedrichsruh. 
"  He  spreads  the  spirit  of  disobedience  throughout  the 
land;  veiled  in  seduction  he  attempts  to  confuse  the 
will  of  my  people  and  those  about  me.  He  uses  oceans 
of  ink  and  printer's  black  to  fog  the  ways  that  ought 
to  be  clear  to  everyone  who  recognizes  my  principles. 
I  will  not  be  confused  by  him."  And  then  came  the 
reaction. 

The  rudder  was  twisted  toward  the  right.  A  zigzag 
policy  was  carried  on  after  the  "  foolish  people,"  "  the 
parties  who  followed  only  their  own  interests,"  refused 
to  recognize  the  Kaiser  and  opposed  the  Junkers.  Step 
by  step  the  prison  bill  was  introduced,  the  return  to 
Ostmark  politics  was  made,  to  high  tariff,  to  banish- 
ment of  Social  Democrats,  and  the  Prussian  three-class 

86 


WILIIELM  II 

suffrage  system  was  strengthened.  Old  Prince  Hohen- 
lohe  spilled  soup  on  his  frock  coat  in  joyful  embarrass- 
ment as  the  Kaiser  raised  his  glass  to  drink  to  the  health 
of  the  new  Chancellor.  Billow  knew  how  to  curry  favor 
with  his  Imperial  Lord  with  all  sorts  of  witty  ideas  and 
mishmash  politics.  Bethmann-IIollweg  was  the  only  one 
who  wanted  to  carry  on  an  honest  policy,  but  he  could 
not  get  rid  of  his  conservative,  bureaucratic  past,  was 
always  in  terror  of  his  own  courage,  and  thought  to  ac- 
complish something  by  continual  compromises. 

When  the  Kaiser  finallv  decided  to  democratize  Ger- 
many  it  was  too  late.  As  a  conservative  politician, 
Count  ITertling  declared  he  could  not  participate  in 
such  an  action;  he  asked  for  his  release,  explaining  to 
the  Kaiser  that  he  could  not  accept  a  parliamentary 
regime  without  denying  his  Lord,  by  the  Grace  of  God. 
But  the  Kaiser  had  already  learned  something ;  he  knew 
even  in  those  gloomy  September  days  that  the  war  was 
lost  and  that  he  must  make  his  peace  with  the  people. 
So  he  became  hard  of  hearing  and  remained. 

When  he  ascended  the  throne  of  his  fathers  there 
were  eleven  Socialists  in  the  Reichstag;  in  1912  there 
were  already  one  hundred  and  twenty.  When  he  lost 
his  crown  there  seemed  to  be  nothing  but  Socialists. 
All  the  other  dynasties  lost  their  right  of  existence  and 
with  them  the  Bundesrat  and  the  Reichstag;  the  whole 
kingdom  threatened  to  disunite. 

87 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AS~D  TO-DAY 

In  thirty  glorious  years  he  had  governed  the  German 
nation  to  pieces. 


His  foreign  policy  was  still  more  deplorable.  Even 
here  he  wanted  to  do  everything  himself,  wanted  to  be 
his  own  Minister  and  Chancellor.  He  was  an  extremely 
bad  psychologist.  lie  thought  he  could  make  every- 
thing all  right  by  friendly  personal  relations  with  neigh- 
boring potentates.  He  drove  into  Bismarck's  clever, 
diplomatic  net  with  clumsy  but  admirable  lack  of  per- 
ception, tore  down  the  wires  leading  to  Russia  to  throw 
himself  into  the  arms  of  decayed,  old  Austria-Hungary. 
He  provoked  England  with  his  loud-mouthed  naval 
policy,  and  Russia  at  the  same  time,  with  his  sudden  love 
for  the  sick  man  on  the  Bosporus.  He  came  out  like 
a  glorious  Lohengrin  against  France's  Morocco  policy 
and  threw  down  the  gauntlet  before  Casa  Blanca.  Al- 
ways the  same  game:  ambition  for  personal  greatness 
and  Germany's  world  importance,  which  embittered  the 
others  until  they  decided  to  stop  the  mouth  of  this  brag- 
ging parvenu  by  a  diplomatic  coalition. 

This  nightmare  which  had  caused  Bismarck  so  many 
sleepless  nights,  although  it  was  then  but  the  product  of 
fancy,  now  became  reality,  and  war  broke  out. 


"  I  did  not  wish  it !  "     Certainly  not.    Wilhelm  was 
much  too  weak  a  character  to  wish  for  it.    But  he  had 

88 


WILHELM  II 

acted  as  if  he  wanted  it,  and  even  if  he  did  hope  for 
peace  to  the  last  moment  he  let  himself  be  influenced 
by  his  generals  who  were  stronger  than  he.  For  fear 
of  being  considered  a  coward  he  let  himself  be  pressed 
into  a  war  that  could  have  been  prevented  (he  clung 
to  the  great  example  of  his  ancestor,  Frederick  the 
Great),  committed  a  breach  of  neutrality  against  Bel- 
gium, and  gambled  on  submarine  warfare  with  the 
others.  At  the  beginning  of  his  career  he  could  not  get 
out  of  Bismarck's  gigantic  shadow;  now  the  shadows 
of  Hindenburg  and  Ludendorff  oppressed  him.  Now 
that  the  time  for  action  had  come,  when  he  could  really 
be  the  great  leader  of  his  people  and  the  nation,  he  was 
only  a  very  small,  helpless,  dangling,  little  man,  a 
comedian  whose  make-up  melted  in  the  glaring  light  of 
day.  He  occupied  the  whole  four  years  between  whim- 
pering prayers  and  imperialistic  revenge  speeches  or 
posing  before  court  painters,  now  as  a  Roman  Impera- 
tor,  now  in  the  field-gray  uniform  of  a  general.  And 
the  result  ?  Millions  of  dead  and  wounded,  a  lost  war, 
bankruptcy  of  a  nation,  degeneration  of  a  whole  people, 
loss  of  territory,  and  inner  revolution.  Men,  mothers 
and  children  lift  up  their  hands  against  him.  This  is 
the  glorious  epoch  he  promised  his  people. 


After  a  heavy  night  the  gray  morning  of  the  9th  of 
November  dawns.     The  Kaiser  arises  to  leave  the  train 

89 


LEADERS  OF  YESTEEDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

in  which  he  has  spent  the  last  night.  Hindenburg 
awaits  him  in  the  Villa  Fraineuse.  Staff  officers  appear 
as  delegates  to  report  on  the  condition  of  the  troops. 
The  universal  opinion  is :  "  Against  the  enemy,  stead- 
fast; against  his  own  comrades  no  one  will  fight.  The 
field  troops  are  retreating  in  disorder.  The  Rhine 
bridges  should  he  guarded.  All  communications  with 
home  are  cut  off.  Telephones  are  mostly  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  Soldiers'  Councils." 

Crushing !  In  the  meantime  the  telephone  rings  con- 
tinually from  Berlin:  the  Kaiser  must  abdicate.  The 
monarch  does  not  respond.  Has  His  Majesty  not  yet 
decided?  ]STo.  Finally  the  Imperial  Chancellor  pro- 
claims the  abdication  himself  in  the  hope  that  the  fait 
accompli  will  ward  off  the  revolution.  Too  late.  At 
last  the  monarch  declares  himself  ready  to  lay  aside  the 
Emperor's  crown  but  not  that  of  Prussia. 

But  Hindenburg,  Greener,  and  Hintze  insist,  and  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  later  Admiral  Scheer  leaves  the 
royal  apartments  with  a  very  red  face.  He  enters  the 
front  room  and  reports  to  Adjutant  Count  Dohna- 
Schlodien,  commander  of  the  Move:  "You  no  longer 
have  a  Commander-in-Chief." 

Event  piles  upon  event.  The  Kaiser  must  leave  Spa 
as  quickly  as  possible.  He  does  not  wish  to  and  cries 
out  in  despair :  "  I  have  always  known  before  what  I 
should  do,  but  now  I  do  not  know  how  to  help  myself." 

90 


WILHELM  II 

One  of  the  adjutants,  on  being  asked  for  his  opinion, 
replied :  "  If  I  were  to  decide  for  my  own  person,  I 
would  remain.  If  the  troops  will  not  fight  for  Your 
Majesty  we  will  form  a  body  guard  of  officers.  We  can 
occupy  almost  every  point  for  this  purpose." 

At  ten  o'clock  Herr  von  Hintze  warned  His  Majesty 
again:     "  Your  Majesty,  it  may  soon  be  too  late." 

Hastily  the  last  measures  were  taken,  everything  was 
packed,  and  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  court 
train  pulled  out  in  the  direction  of  Le  Reid,  the  next 
station  on  the  Spa-Pepinster  line.  The  Kaiser  followed 
in  an  automobile  headed  for  the  Dutch  frontier  station 
Eyst. 

!No  flags,  garlands,  or  maids  of  honor  accompanied 
the  last  journey;  no  hurrahs  or  music.  He  fled  like  a 
thief  in  the  night.  In  Amerongen  he  enjoys  the  haven 
of  refuge  Holland  has  granted  him,  listening  with  bit- 
terness in  his  heart  to  the  voices  of  the  outside  world 
that  penetrate  into  his  asylum,  refusing  to  believe  that 
the  days  of  "  Gottesgnadentum  "  are  gone-  and  clinging 
to  the  hope  of  a  return  to  power,  and  of  imperial  splen- 
dor, as  of  yore.  He  is  convinced  that  the  German 
people  have  paid  him  with  shameful  ingratitude. 


S3 

CLEMENS  DELBRUCK 

Clemens  Delbriick  made  a  stately  appearance.  He  is 
large  with  a  slight  inclination  towards  embonpoint,  has 
a  short,  drooping,  light-blond  mustache,  almost  bald 
head,  lively,  light  blue  eyes,  with  a  firm,  steadfast  ex- 
pression —  a  splendid,  imposing  personage  in  the  gala 
uniform  of  a  State  Secretary,  but  at  bottom  only  an 
official  type  of  the  war  period.  For  many  years  he  was 
persona  grata  with  the  Kaiser  without  being  conserva- 
tive. He  trod  the  narrow  path  between  conservatism 
and  liberalism,  turning  now  to  the  right,  now  to  the 
left,  with  obliging  readiness  just  as  the  moment  de- 
manded. Always  he  had  one  or  more  compromises 
ready  to  hand  and  always  a  ready  solution  for  resist- 
ance or  disinclination  on  the  part  of  the  Ministry, 
Bundesrat,  or  Reichstag.  This  clever,  adroit  politi- 
cian who,  as  soon  as  the  war  broke  out,  began  to  flirt 
with  democracy,  has  now  been  out  of  office  more  than 
two  years.  In  1916,  when  the  food  system  threatened 
to  go  to  pieces,  he  was  one  of  the  first  of  Bethmann- 
Hollweg's  stand-bys  to  leave.  The  grateful  monarch 
hung  the  Order  of  the  Black  Eagle  around  his  neck 

92 


CLEMENS  DELBRUCK 

and  knighted  him  for  his  services.  He  went  because 
as  an  advocate  of  free  trade  he  could  not  approve  of  a 
socialistic  food  system.  He  retired  from  office  ill,  tired, 
and  resigned;  built  himself  a  quiet  little  Sans  Souci 
in  Jena,  and  settled  down  as  professor  of  political 
science  at  the  old  Thuringian  university  where  Melanch- 
thon,  Schiller,  Fichte,  and  Hegel  once  taught.  He 
wrote  a  little  book  with  suggestions  for  reforming 
higher  Government  careers.  Then,  after  two  and  a  half 
years  he  again  entered  public  life.  As  von  Berg's  suc- 
cessor, he  took  over  the  presidency  of  the  civil  cabinet 
for  a  few  weeks  only.  With  the  downfall  of  the  Kaiser 
he  was  finished. 

A  Delbriick  had  once  before  occupied  a  prominent 
place  in  Prussia.  Although  he  had  been  the  Chancel- 
lor's right  hand,  he,  too,  had  to  give  way  to  political 
changes  and  new  ideas.  In  spite  of  undeniable  service, 
he,  too,  was  the  victim  of  a  transitory  period  after  the 
war  of  1870.  In  spite  of  his  clever  diplomacy,  Rudolph 
Delbriick  was  a  strong  character  who  continued  to  fight 
Bismarck's  high  tariff  system  even  after  his  retirement 
from  office. 

Clemens  Delbriick,  former  Secretary  of  State  and 
Vice-Chancellor,  was  not  less  gifted  as  a  Government 
official.  What  he  lacked  was  association  with  the  fluc- 
tuating life  of  the  people,  their  thousandfold  emotions, 
hopes,  and  desires ;  he  lacked  the  ability  to  form  quick 

93 


LEADERS  OE  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

resolutions,  to  take  things  into  Lis  own  hands,  or  to 
form  original  ideas.  For  a  few  years  only  did  he  rise 
above  the  narrowness  of  Prussian  officialdom,  and  these 
were  not  enough  to  enable  him  to  gain  a  wide  perspec- 
tive or  to  enter  broad  paths  disregardful  of  the  many 
considerations  within  a  bureaucratic  system.  He  was 
soon  a  "  maid  of  all  work  "  because  he  could  accommo- 
date himself  quickly  and  soon  became  acquainted  with 
his  material.  But  in  the  course  of  his  varied  career  he 
could  not  separate  himself  altogether  from  the  green 
table. 

At  twenty-nine  years  of  age  he  was  Landrat  in 
Tuchel.  In  this  isolated  West  Prussian  spot  he  came 
into  close  touch  with  landed  property  owners  and  seven 
years  later  was  called  to  Danzig  as  councillor  of  the 
Agricultural  Department.  His  chief,  Gustav  von  Goss- 
ler,  former  Minister  of  Education,  soon  recognized  his 
superior  talents  and  valued  him  so  highly  that  he  rec- 
ommended him  as  Baumbach's  successor  as  Mayor  of 
Danzig.  This  conservative  man  took  his  place  at  the 
head  of  the  Government  of  a  city  renowned  for  its  lib- 
eralism, a  city  which  had  been  represented  in  the 
Reichstag  for  decades  by  a  Heinrich  Richter. 

He  stood  the  test.  Important  days  came  for  Danzig. 
The  Kaiser's  interest  was  awakened  for  the  old  Hansa 
city  on  the  Vistula.  He  sent  the  Posen  Hussars  to 
join  the  Danzig  bodyguards.     Before  the  slender,  dig- 

94 


CLEMENS  DELBEUCK 

nified,  old  town  hall  tower,  Delbriick  greeted  the  Kaiser 
and  General  Mackensen,  former  aide-de-camp,  now  at 
the  head  of  the  Hussars.  The  monarch  was  pleased 
with  the  Mayor  of  Danzig  and  his  impressive  speech; 
even  in  1901  it  was  known  that  Delbriick  was  the  com- 
ing man  for  Wilhelm  II.  Scarcely  a  year  passed  be- 
fore he  was  at  the  head  of  the  West  Prussian  adminis- 
tration. Prince  Biilow  had  just  started  his  Ostmark 
policy  —  Delbriick  seemed  the  right  man  for  the  helm. 
He  was  given  three  tasks;  besides  an  extensive  coloni- 
zation scheme,  he  was  to  look  after  the  educational  and 
economic  development  of  West  Prussia. 

The  funds  for  the  colonization  commission  were 
raised  in  1902  from  two  hundred  to  three  hundred  and 
fifty  million  marks;  besides  this,  another  one  hundred 
million  was  thrown  out  for  the  establishment  of  do- 
mains, a  concession  to  the  landed  proprietors.  This 
systematic  colonization  scheme  soon  became  a  two-edged 
sword  causing  the  price  of  land  to  increase  enormously. 
As  an  offensive  policy  it  was  unsuccessful,  for  the  Poles 
soon  refused  to  sell  any  land  to  the  Germans  until 
Biilow  used  the  weapon  of  expropriation  against  them, 
also  without  much  success. 

The  thought  of  industrially  and  commercially  lifting 
the  East  to  a  higher  plane  also  met  with  little  success 
because  economical  reasons  for  such  a  policy  were 
lacking.     One  could  not  shut  off  the  Ostmark  from 

95 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AKD  TO-DAY 

Poland  and  Galicia  with  high  tariffs  and  then  expect 
to  found  industrial  centers  in  this  dead  corner  of  Ger- 
many. The  lack  of  raw  stuffs  and  coal  made  competi- 
tion with  the  West  impossible  and  the  Eastern  market 
was  as  good  as  closed. 

The  educational  scheme  also  followed  a  somewhat  un- 
usual course.  The  Ostmark  appropriations  were  meant 
to  bind  teachers  and  officials  to  the  soil,  but  because  this 
was  not  always  complied  with  it  made  much  bad  blood. 
The  only  accomplishment  worthy  of  note  was  the  foun- 
dation of  a  technical  high  school  in  Danzig  and  the 
little  educational  work  done  in  the  provinces. 

Without  any  reproach  to  himself,  Delbriick  was  un- 
able to  make  much  of  a  show  with  the  Ostmark  policy 
after  three  years  of  activity.  In  1905  he  was  called  to 
the  presidency  of  the  Prussian  Board  of  Trade.  This 
was  the  third  time  within  a  comparatively  short  period 
that  he  had  occupied  a  responsible  position.  But  here, 
too,  his  powers  were  not  developed  to  the  full.  There 
were  big  beginnings  but  small  results.  In  1907  he  laid 
down  a  proposition  which  was  to  remove  all  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  opening  up  mines;  in  November  of  the 
same  year  he  drew  up  measures  which  were  to  influence 
the  high  prices  of  coal  in  favor  of  the  consumer.  But 
everyone  knew  that  he  had  promised  more  than  he  could 
fulfill,  like  "  Long  Moller,"  his  predecessor.  Once 
again,  at  the  wish  of  His  Majesty,  he  interfered  for 

96 


CLEMEXS  DELBPJJCK 

the  benefit  of  the  masses  against  the  coal  barons.  After 
the  terrible  misfortune  at  Radbod  in  November,  1908, 
he  introduced  a  bill  for  the  institution  of  a  Labor  Con- 
troller. In  his  speech  he  declared :  "  It  is  a  battle  for 
the  soul  of  the  individual."  The  ever-increasing  danger 
of  anarchy  and  terrorism  seemed  of  more  importance  to 
him  than  danger  to  the  lives  of  miners  which  was  the 
main  object  of  the  bill.  It  only  meant  a  means  to  gain 
his  purpose  —  the  policy  of  the  green  table. 

But  even  here  he  had  to  satisfy  himself  with  a  com- 
promise. In  June  and  July,  1909,  he  threw  himself  in 
the  breach  for  Biilow's  policy  and  fought  against  coal 
export  duties  and  mill  taxes.  Although  the  majority 
listened  to  his  speech  with  insulting  indifference  on 
that  hot  summer  day  in  the  Reichstag  (with  the  excep- 
tion of  Bethmann-IIollweg),  he  was  one  of  the  most 
energetic  tax-diplomatists  of  the  crumbling  Govern- 
ment. 

He  got  his  reward.  Billow  resigned.  Bethmann- 
IIollweg  was  his  successor,  and  Delbriick,  as  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  became  one  of  the  corner  stones  of 
the  new  Government.  Two  powerful  laws  were  passed 
under  his  leadership:  a  summary  of  the  whole  insur- 
ance regulations  with  a  clause  pertaining  to  the  care  of 
widows  and  orphans,  and  the  employees'  insurance  law. 
But  on  the  whole,  his  social  and  economic  policies  suf- 
fered under  halfway  measures  and  compromises. 

97 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

One  thing  must  be  admitted  in  his  favor,  the  De- 
partment of  the  Interior  grew  to  enormous  proportions 
under  his  leadership.  In  time  it  was  to  become  a  reser- 
voir for  the  most  heterogeneous  collection.  Even  Count 
Posadowsky  groaned  over  it',  and  the  idea  of  dividing 
it  into  several  departments  was  more  than  once  con- 
sidered. The  war  added  a  thousand  other  tasks  to  the 
already  overburdened  department.  Even  the  intricate 
food  problem  was  loaded  onto  this  office  which  soon  be- 
came an  automatic  law-making  machine.  This  must 
have  been  too  much  even  for  a  man  of  Delbriick's  type. 
Added  to  this  was  the  helplessness  of  the  whole  affair. 
It  could  make  laws  but  had  neither  control  nor  executive 
power. 

After  a  while  he  saw  that  things  could  not  go  on  in 
this  manner  much  longer  and  suggested  that  the  food 
department  be  separated  from  the  Department  of  the 
Interior.  This  was  done,  and  he  retired.  Dr.  Helfferich 
was  his  successor.  Clemens  Delbriick  had  seen  the 
dawning  of  a  new  political  order  of  things,  but  was  no 
longer  permitted  to  participate  in  the  work  of  recon- 
struction. 

He  was  a  man  with  a  passion  for  detail,  who  often 
overlooked  the  big  idea,  who  did  not  allow  himself  to  be 
governed  by  creative  principles.  All  in  all,  he  loved 
his  office.  This  was  his  strength  and  his  weakness  at 
the  same  time. 


XII 

HERMANN  PACHNICKE 

Octavio,  Baron  von  Zedlitz,  dethroned  chief  of  the 
Free  Conservative  party,  and  Hermann  Pachnicke, 
chairman  of  the  Progressive  Landtag  faction,  had 
much  in  common.  Both  had  acquired  an  unusual 
routine  during  a  long  parliamentary  and  journalistic 
career.  For  a  time  scarcely  a  week  went  by  that  they 
did  not  publish  their  political  opinions  in  the  red  Tag. 
Both  had  grown  gray  over  it.  On  the  coat  of  arms  of 
both  stands  the  word  "Prudence."  They  glide  over 
the  polished  floor  of  politics  in  felt  slippers  in  order 
not  to  scratch  its  surface. 

Twilight  was  their  sphere;  their  stars  gleamed  only 
in  the  night.  For  both  are  tacticians,  political  schem- 
ers; usually  they  stepped  upon  the  speaker's  platform 
only  when  there  was  something  to  debate.  One  of 
their  special  themes  was  the  franchise  problem.  They 
forged  a  thousand  compromises  behind  the  scenes, 
Dr.  Pachnicke  more  than  Baron  von  Zedlitz. 

They  were  somewhat  different  in  temperament,  al- 
though both  were  political  foxes,  but  Herr  von  Zedlitz 
could  at  times  speak  out  plainly.    This  was  the  liberal 

99 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  A:NtD  TO-DAY 

streak  running  through  his  conservatism.  Herr  Pach- 
nicke  was  only  a  rationalist.  Each  word  must  first 
pass  the  gates  of  reason  before  it  ventured  across  his 
lips.  In  general,  he  wrote  as  he  spoke,  in  well-ordered 
sentences  with  not  a  single  error  of  construction.  It 
was  just  the  same  in  his  private  conversation.  In  the 
Reichstag  they  say  he  kissed  every  word  he  spoke  and 
tried  to  win  everybody  by  rolling  his  forget-me-not  eyes 
graciously  hither  and  thither.  He  was  a  man  after 
Bethmann-Hollweg's  own  heart,  who  hesitatingly  ut- 
tered his  friendly  feeling  for  democracy  before  the  pub- 
lic and  under  four  eyes  made  all  sorts  of  promises 
without  thinking  much  about  the  time  of  their  fulfill- 
ment. The  other  two  eyes  were  not  seldom  those  of 
Herr  Pachnicke,  who  knew  how  to  keep  himself  fresh 
in  one's  memory.     Forget-me-not! 

Dr.  Pachnicke  was  born  in  Spandau  and  is  already 
past  sixty  as  his  dignified  white  beard  shows.  He  was 
a  journalist,  having  studied  philosophy  and  political 
science  in  Berlin,  Munich  and  Halle.  He  began  his 
literary  career  with  a  study  of  the  philosophy  of  Epi- 
curus, lie  has  ever  been  true  to  a  carefully  regulated 
enjoyment  of  life.  One  should  not  strive  for  every 
pleasure  that  offers  itself,  so  Epicurus  teaches.  One 
must  first  ascertain  where  there  is  a  maximum  of  pleas- 
ure or  a  minimum  of  pain.  Sufficiency  is  the  true  wis- 
dom of  life  j  in  order  to  preserve  health  and  the  ability 

100 


HERMANN  PACHNICKE 

for  enjoyment  one  must  avoid  sumptuous  and  expensive 
pleasures.  Pachnicke's  interest  in  the  social  problem 
may  be  traced  to  this.  With  Berlepsch  he  wrote  a 
book  on  the  necessity  of  a  national  labor  bureau.  He 
was  never  a  doctrinaire.  He  worked  for  the  interests 
of  the  Government  when  Caprivi  brought  up  the  mili- 
tary reform  bill.  After  the  two-year  service  for  the 
infantry  was  conceded  and  after  a  heavy  conflict  with 
Eugen  Richter,  who  was  not  in  the  habit  of  giving  way 
even  an  inch,  he  went  over  to  the  elements  who  broke 
away  from  the  People's  party.  He  was  sent  to  the 
Landtag  every  year  from  Konigsberg  and  represented 
the  district  of  Parchim  in  the  Reichstag.  When 
Count  Hertling  entered  office  his  name  was  mentioned 
among  others  for  the  cabinet.  But  the  discussion  came 
to  nothing. 

In  holiday  time  Pachnicke  always  left  Berlin  and 
retired  to  his  home  in  Hopferau,  which  belonged  to  the 
Bavarian  district  of  Fiissen,  close  to  the  borders  of 
Tyrol,  where  tower  the  snowy  Alps.  After  a  short  rest 
he  would  again  descend  from  his  mountain  heights  into 
the  flat  lands  of  parliamentary  activity  —  just  the  oppo- 
site of  Ilenrik  Ibsen's  Brand.  Brand  came  near  ending 
as  priest  of  the  ice  church;  his  cruel  bluntness,  his 
"  everything  or  nothing  "  drove  him  into  a  fearful  lone- 
liness. When  Pachnicke  descended  from  his  mountains, 
he  always  found  connections;  he  contemplated  accom- 

101 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  A]STD  TO-DAY 

plishing  something,  not  everything.  Goethe's  censorious 
words  were  not  meant  for  him :  "  What,  you  make  the 
world  ?     It  is  already  made !  " 

And  so  as  a  politician  he  worked  on  the  basis  of 
things  as  they  were. 


XIII 

OTTO  HAMMANN 

The  war  was  a  great  opportunity  for  the  journalists.- 
Every  office,  every  war  society  had  its  literary  bureau 
with  some  journalist  at  the  head  of  it.  It  was  different 
in  the  old  days.  Bismarck  had  a  "  piece  of  white 
paper"  reserved  for  him  in  the  Norddeutsclie  Allge- 
meine  Zeiiung,  and  for  quite  official  things  there  was 
the  ponderous  apparatus  of  the  Reichs-und  Kdnlglich 
Preussische  Staatsanzeiger.  Besides  that,  he  was  on 
confidential  terms  with  a  few  reputable  journalists  but 
that  was  all.  It  is  possible  that  a  few  newspaper  cor- 
respondents were  nourished  by  the  Guelph  Funds,  those 
"  Reptile  Funds,"  in  order  to  smuggle  official  things 
into  the  Independent  press.  Otherwise  the  Government 
troubled  itself  little  about  the  press,  did  not  consider  it 
qualified  for  respectable  society,  and  officially  it  was 
mentioned  as  a  mere  object. 

When  Bismarck  left  the  Chancellor's  palace  in  1890 
it  was  not  much  better.  True,  the  man  of  Sachsenwald 
was  an  independent  coworker  on  the  Hamburger  NacJi- 
ricliten,  kept  a  few  journalistic  bodyguards  and  made  it 
as  difficult  as  possible  for  the  new  course  of  events.    But 

103 


/ 

LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

the  people  in  "Wilhelmstrasse  kept  on  treading  the  old 
path;  in  1894  the  German  Government  had  but  one 
office  for  the  press  for  home  as  well  as  foreign  political 
questions,  and  this  office  was  occupied  by  one  chief  and 
two  clerks  whose  principal  duties  consisted  in  making 
clippings  from  home  and  foreign  papers.  There  was 
not  even  a  telephone.  Rudolf  Lindau  worked  with  only 
one  assessor  or  vice-consul  and  there  was  time  enough 
for  him  to  read  the  proof-sheets  of  his  master's  new 
novel.  The  chief  occupation  of  the  press  bureau  con- 
sisted in  sending  Prince  Bismarck  a  review  of  the  day's 
news  and  carrying  out  the  directions  that  came  back 
from  Frieclrichsruh  in  regard  to  these  reports.  These 
directions  were  often  written  in  such  a  way  that  they 
needed  only  a  head  and  a  tail  to  make  them  ready  for 
publication  in  the  Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung 
or  elsewhere. 

Caprivi,  the  Chancellor-General,  like  his  prede- 
cessor, contented  himself  with  one  confidential  jour- 
nalist, Dr.  Otto  Hammann,  Berlin  correspondent  of 
the  Miinchener  Allgemeine  Zeitung,  the  Schlesische 
Zeitung,  the  Hamburger  Korrespondenten,  and  the 
Pester  Lloyd.  His  political  beliefs  were  rather  hazy,  a 
sort  of  National  Liberal-Free  Conservative  mixture. 

Hammann  was  born  in  the  little  Weimar  town  of 
Blankenhain.  He  studied  law  and  passed  his  examina- 
tions, but  two  years  later  he  went  over  to  journalism. 

104 


OTTO  HAHMAOT 

When  he  first  met  Caprivi  he  had  been  an  independent 
writer  for  fourteen  years  in  Berlin. 

"  On  a  June  day  in  the  year  1892,  I  received  an  in- 
vitation to  come  to  Wilhelmstrasse  77,  for  a  consulta- 
tion with  the  General  who  had  taken  Bismarck's  place 
two  years  before.  A  few  articles  in  the  Pester  Lloyd 
which  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the  general  were 
responsible  for  this  honor.  He  accompanied  me  to  the 
Chancellery  garden.  On  the  corner  of  the  middle  path 
stood  an  old  chestnut  tree  under  whose  branches  we 
took  our  seats  at  a  table  standing  there.  That  was  the 
first  time  I  had  even  seen  him  closely." 

Caprivi  started  the  conversation  by  remarking  that 
this  beautiful  park  was  the  only  pleasant  thing  about 
his  position.     Then  he  spoke  of  his  predecessor: 

"  It  is  impossible  to  attack  him  as  I  would  like  most 
to  do.  Being  an  old  soldier,  he  would  beat  me  at  it. 
What  is  his  reason  for  his  vehement  actions  against  the 
new  regiment  ?  He  cannot,  and  will  not,  take  over  the 
office  of  Chancellor  again.  There  is  only  one  explana- 
tion left  and  that  is  passionate  bitterness  with  the  wish 
to  humiliate  the  Kaiser.  Hate  is  the  mainspring  of  the 
greatest  deeds.    It  began  in  the  Eschenheimergasse." 

So  Hammann  relates  in  his  memorials  under  the 
title  of  The  New  Course.  He  was  in  a  painful  situa- 
tion ;  he  was  a  Bismarck  disciple,  and  yet,  through  his 
personal  contact  with  the  old  General  he  began  to  have 

105 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

a  strong  liking  for  Caprivi.  His  writings  are  not  ex- 
actly voluminous  nor  do  they  show  deep  penetration 
of  people  or  things.  They  are  smooth  and  pleasing, 
light  and  flowing,  as  if  written  for  Garden  Leaves  (a 
magazine  for  women),  and  even  the  most  simple  is  not 
likely  to  stumble  upon  a  problem  that  will  cause  him 
any  brain  work.  This  reporter  has  written  descrip- 
tively, uncritically,  touching  upon  trifles  more  than 
important  facts,  contenting  himself  with  the  mere 
periphery  of  the  thing.  But  perhaps  herein  lies  the 
value  of  the  book.  It  is  not  documental  secrets  that 
speak,  but  the  human,  all  too  human,  side  that  runs 
through  it.  Sometimes  he  quotes  from  Schiller,  Bis- 
marck, and,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  also  from  Goethe. 

A  friendly  intercourse  developed  from  this  first 
meeting  with  Caprivi.  Hammann  placed  himself  jour- 
nalistically at  the  disposal  of  the  new  course  of  events. 
"  In  the  middle  of  December,  1892,  during  the  battle 
over  military  reform,  the  two-year  service  period,  the 
Chancellor  told  me  he  expected  a  dissolution  of  the 
Reichstag.  Therefore  it  was  necessary  to  spread  as 
much  information  in  the  election  districts  as  possible." 

ISTow,  for  the  first  time,  a  systematic  press  campaign 
was  begun,  reminding  one  almost  of  Bethmann-Holl- 
weg's  press-assault.  "  On  the  upper  floor  of  the  right 
wing  of  the  Chancellery  Major  Keim  set  up  his  quarters 
and   began   a   fruitful   propaganda  activity   with   the 

106 


OTTO  HAMMANN 

utmost  confidence  in  its  success.  Everything  that  could, 
or  would,  help  in  any  way  was  put  in  action."  Baron 
von  der  Goltz-Paseka,  General  von  Boguslawski,  Gen- 
eral von  Kamecke,  and  among  the  scholars,  Gneist, 
Conrad,  and  Wagner,  to  work  for  the  new  leader,  who 
later  used  this  same  method  of  suggestion  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Navy  Verein  and  the  Military  Verein. 

In  1894,  at  Caprivi's  wish,  Hammann  became  an 
official  in  the  political  department  of  the  Foreign  Office. 
Baron  von  Marschall  was  then  head  of  the  department, 
but  the  secret  regent  was  really  Ilerr  von  Holstein,  "  the 
man  with  the  spots  on  his  inner  iris,  who  maintained 
all  sorts  of  subterranean  connections  "  and  who  rode  us 
into  the  Morocco  adventure.  In  spite  of  all  the  mis- 
trust and  political  prejudices  against  him  he  was  a  man 
of  upright  principles  whose  style  combined  logic  witH 
the  finest  and  clearest  diction.  His  articles  were  sharp 
and  cutting ;  even  Hammann  could  not  do  as  well.  And 
that  was  why  Holstein  did  not  wish  to  find  a  competitor 
in  Hammann ;  grumbling  and  bearish  he  put  the  cabinet 
question  and  was  then  appointed  director  of  the  political 
department.  Thus  Hammann's  press  department  came 
under  his  jurisdiction.  Holstein  said  afterwards  that 
Hammann  had  rebelled  and  after  his  departure  it  was 
he  (Hammann)  who  instigated  the  press  mutiny  against 
him.  "  It  was  not  that  at  all,"  said  Hammann,  "  and 
there  was  not  the  least  bit  of  posthumous  revenge  about 

107 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY. 

it.  The  whole  Holstein  crisis,  which  lasted  from  the 
time  of  King  Edward  YIFs  visit  in  June,  1904,  to 
April,  1906,  was  sometimes  like  a  Shakespearean 
comedy." 

Hammann  broke  off  his  chronicles  just  at  the  point 
where  they  might  have  become  more  interesting,  in  de- 
fense of  Caprivi:  the  acquisition  of  Heligoland,  the 
trade  agreements,  military  reform,  and  resistance  of  the 
anti-socialistic  laws.  This  was  during  the  time  of  Herr 
von  Hohenlohe's  chancellorship,  but  he  did  not  enter 
into  Biilow's  or  Bethmann-Hollweg's  policies  although 
he  had  had  an  opportunity  to  observe  the  work  of  these 
men  more  closely  perhaps  than  that  of  the  others.  It 
may  be  that  he  was  silent  for  reasons  of  discretion,  in 
order  not  to  say  anything  detrimental  or  even  personal 
about  those  who  are  still  living. 

But,  you  will  ask,  has  this  man  who  mocked  the  in- 
adequacy of  the  official  press  apparatus  had  any  influ- 
ence for  the  better  upon  it?  Not  in  the  least.  He 
started  an  underground  press  organization  and  out  of 
the  large  number  of  Berlin  journalists,  he  chose  a  few 
to  whom  he  retailed  news.  He  smuggled  a  few  official 
things  into  their  papers  for  the  sake  of  their  good  will. 
In  time  he  became  more  and  more  unapproachable.  The 
leaders  of  those  big  papers  who  valued  their  independ- 
ence naturally  cut  him  and  sought  their  information 
elsewhere.    When  the  war  broke  out  one  recognized  all 

108 


OTTO  HAMMAOT 

of  a  sudden  how  much  irreparable  damage  had  been 
done  by  the  depreciation  of  the  power  of  the  press.  The 
curtain  was  suddenly  drawn  back  from  in  front  of  a 
rubbish  heap. 

When  the  foolishness  of  the  former  situation  was 
recognized  and  a  new  relation  was  sought  between  the 
government  and  the  press,  some  believed,  because  it  was 
war  and  Germany  was  in  a  state  of  siege,  that  the 
press  should  be  commandeered  like  the  army.  The 
most  ridiculous  censor  regulations  were  held  over  the 
newspapers'  heads  like  a  knout  with  iron  barbs.  Grad- 
ually, during  the  course  of  the  war,  it  became  a  little 
better.  A  really  confidential  relationship  arose  —  and 
Herr  Hammann  left  the  office  with  the  titles  of  acting 
Privy  Councillor  and  Excellence,  to  devote  himself  to 
journalism  once  more.  That  is,  he  became  neither  cor- 
respondent nor  editor,  but  a  member  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Transoceanic  N aclirichtengesellschaft, 
whose  aim  was  to  establish  a  news  bureau  independent 
of  Reuter. 

Once  only  did  I  have  an  opportunity  to  speak  with 
him  in  his  official  capacity.  This  was  in  a  snug  corner 
of  the  German  Society's  clubhouse.  It  was  after  an  un- 
expected suppression  of  the  newspapers.  He  promised 
to  act  as  intermediary  although  I  knew  he,  himself,  was 
responsible  for  the  suppression. 


XIV 

ADOLPH  HOFFMANN 

It  is  a  very  busy  day  in  the  Prussian  House,  a  great 
day.  The  diplomat's  and  minister's  loges  are  filled  with 
curious  onlookers ;  even  the  tribune  is  full.  A  garland 
of  ladies  lends  animation  to  the  scene.  Beneath  in  the 
assembly  room  representatives  are  buzzing  like  bees. 
Little  groups  form  here  and  there;  everywhere  lively 
discussions  and  gesticulations  are  heard.  One  minister 
after  another  dribbles  in:  Breitenbach,  Hergt,  Schmidt, 
Spahn.  Orderlies  run  about  with  papers  and  docu- 
ments. Herr  Drews,  Minister  of  the  Interior,  comes 
and  with  him  Dr.  Eriedberg,  vice-president  of  the  Min- 
istry. The  geutlemen  by  the  portals  of  the  Government 
room  step  aside  respectfully ;  Count  Hertling,  president 
of  the  cabinet,  enters.  Immediately  Count  Schwerin- 
Lowitz,  chairman  of  the  House,  swings  the  bell  a  few 
times  and  announces  the  opening  of  the  session  in  his 
weak,  irritable  voice.  Election  reform  stands  on  the 
calendar  of  the  day. 

The  battle  of  intellect  begins.  The  debate  waxes  hot. 
Often  there  are  tense,  dramatic  moments.  Everybody 
fights  like  a  lioness  protecting  her  young;  the  Right, 

110 


ADOLPH  HOFFMANN 

the  Left,  the  Center,  the  Government.  The  onlookers 
do  not  conceal  their  feelings.  Hisses  and  applause,  cries 
of  approval  or  disapproval  fill  the  intervals.  The  repre- 
sentatives are  crowding  around  the  speaker's  platform 
in  order  not  to  lose  a  word;  some  in  civilian  clothes, 
some  in  uniform,  like  Count  Spec,  have  planted  them- 
selves directly  behind  the  speaker  whose  words  rebound 
from  this  living  wall  like  balls  of  light,  like  a  fountain 
of  fireworks. 

On  the  left  stands  a  man  who  soon  attracts  general 
attention  by  the  peppery  remarks  he  hurls  like  rockets 
into  the  midst  of  the  assembly,  flinging  his  opinions  like 
hurdles  in  front  of  the  rhetorical  cavalry  charge  of  the 
reform  opponent  at  the  desk,  compelling  him  to  halt, 
to  answer,  often  exciting  general  amusement. 

It  is  a  man  with  a  lion's  mane  of  gleaming,  white 
hair.  A  Henri  Quatre  beard  of  the  same  color  on  a 
glowing  red  face  emphasizes  his  singularity.  His  gen- 
eral pose  is  somewhat  careless,  like  his  clothes.  In 
spite  of  a  somewhat  belligerent  air  he  leaves  a  comfort- 
able impression  upon  one. 

This  is  Adolph  Hoffmann,  representative  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Socialists.  When  he  stands  there  with  his  back 
contemptuously  turned  toward  the  speaker,  he  generally 
has  his  hands  in  his  pockets.  Every  few  minutes  a  deep 
bass  gurgles  up  from  the  depths  in  pure  Berlin  jargon : 
"  Yah,  y'look  like  it !  "  and  so  on.    Sometimes  his  blows 

111 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 

tell,  and  the  speaker  must  prepare  for  defense.  In  the 
meantime  the  little  bell  tinkles  madly,  and  calls  to 
order  are  so  frequent  that  Adolph  Hoffmann's  book 
would  soon  be  full  if  he  tried  to  record  them  all.  He 
has  had  venomous  conflicts  with  Count  Schwerin- 
Lowitz's  predecessors:  Jordan  von  Krocher  and  Baron 
von  Erffa,  because  they  were  very  easily  angered. 
Herr  von  Krocher  revenged  himself  once  by  saying 
Adolph  Hoffmann  was  never  considered  as  a  subject  of 
law  giving,  only  as  object.  Once,  before  the  war,  after 
the  entrance  of  the  first  Social  Democrats  in  this,  until 
now,  pure  atmosphere,  when  a  policeman  was  sent  for 
to  remove  Representative  Borchardt  who  refused  to  lis- 
ten to  calls  to  order,  Adolph  Hoffmann  manfully  took 
his  part. 

This  is  Adolph  Hoffman  as  he  is  and  as  he  probably 
will  be  to  the  end  of  his  life  —  an  infamous  fellow  in 
the  eyes  of  all  lovers  of  order.  And  when  he  himself 
mounts  the  speaker's  platform  there  is  a  regular  hail 
storm;  one  strong  expression  after  another  like  pea 
shots.  Usually  the  Right  flee  from  the  assembly  room 
to  demonstrate  their  feelings.  The  Center  follow,  and 
the  fastidious  Liberals  do  the  goose-step  after  them. 
But  in  the  evenings,  among  themselves,  they  must  have 
to  smirk  over  this  bombardment  of  words,  always  the 
same.  The  Free  Conservative  Woyna  once  said  one 
must  not  take  him  too  seriously;  Mr.  Hoffmann  was  the 

112 


ADOLPH  HOFFMANN 

original  Berlin  Philistine  who  liked  to  blow  off  to  ease 
his  mind. 

Adolph  Hoffmann  has  just  reached  sixty.  He  was 
born  in  Berlin  on  the  sixty-first  birthday  of  Wilhelm  I, 
the  22d  of  March,  1858,  just  as  the  new  period 
under  the  Prince  Regent  was  beginning  to  dawn.  He 
grew  to  manhood  amidst  the  most  modest  circumstances, 
attended  seven  different  people's  schools  or  poor  schools 
in  four  different  places.  At  fourteen  he  was  sent  out  to 
learn  a  trade;  he  was  to  have  become  an  engraver  but 
had  to  give  it  up  on  account  of  his  eyes.  He  then 
took  up  gilding  but  did  not  stay  long  at  this.  He 
was  messenger  boy  in  a  bookstore,  a  cloth  concern,  and 
a  hardware  shop,  one  after  the  other,  in  the  mean- 
time hiring  out  as  a  painter  and  gilder.  In  the  early 
90's  the  party  called  him  to  Halle  as  editor,  and 
later  to  Zeitz.  From  1893  on  he  settled  down  as  a 
bookseller  in  Berlin  and  began  to  write.  He  threw 
overboard  the  ten  commandments  which  Moses  brought 
down  from  Mount  Sinai,  and  set  up  ten  of  his 
own  in  their  place.  He  was  an  atheist  of  the  purest 
water;  day  and  night  he  worked  for  his  free  religious 
ideas.  For  years  he  delivered  the  same  speeches ;  once 
when  he  had  uttered  an  especially  fiery  speech  against 
the  Bourgeoisie,  capitalists,  and  class  rule,  he  made  a 
deep  impression  upon  a  lady  listener.  She  soon  became 
his  wife,  and,  as  she  brought  some  little  money  with 

113 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 

her,  Hoffmann  became  financially  independent.  An- 
other time  he  hurled  a  flaming  pamphlet  against  the 
whole  reactionary  mass,  with  the  intimidating  title: 
The  Social  Democrats  are  Coming! — a  warning  to 
women  and  girls  of  all  classes. 

In  time  he  gained  some  little  reputation  as  an  author 
and  as  he  understood  the  business  side,  too,  they  soon 
made  a  place  for  him  in  the  party.  He  always  be- 
longed to  the  opposition  and  soon  became  a  warm  friend 
of  Stadthagen  and  Rosa  Luxemburg,  the  undaunted, 
fanatic  dogmatist.  She  was  his  little  Rosie.  Once  at 
the  International  Socialistic  Congress  at  Stuttgart,  at 
a  garden  party,  it  was  said  that  he  danced  a  measure 
with  the  fair  Rosa  like  a  good  many  others  of  his  party 
comrades. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Reichstag  from  1904  to 
1906.  Two  years,  and  then  it  was  over.  But  he 
played  first  violin  in  his  party,  or,  speaking  more  cor- 
rectly, he  beat  the  drum.  He  has  ornamented  the  Prus- 
sian House  of  Representatives  ever  since  social  demo- 
cracy sneaked  in;  that  is,  since  1908.  He  was  sent 
from  the  sixth  Berlin  voting  district,  Moabit,  by  a  small 
majority.  In  the  meantime,  he  was  candidate  more  than 
once  for  the  Reichstag. 

His  parliamentary  record  of  sins  is  not  small.  He 
recognized  no  authority,  and  often  his  jokes  exceeded 
the  limit.     When  occasion  required  he  could  be  anti- 

114 


ADOLPH  HOFFMAOT 

Semitic.  When  Herr  von  Mirbach,  the  Kaiser's  gentle- 
man-in-waiting, went  to  citizens  of  Jewish  persuasion 
with  his  amusing  begging  in  behalf  of  the  Kaiser  Wil- 
helm  Memorial  church,  he  composed  an  ironical  ditty 
in  the  Landtag: 

"  Peacefully  passes  through  my  mind 
Still  and  calm  God's  peace. 
Up  above  sits  Princess  Wied, 
Down  below  the  Jews." 

Mir  and  mich  (mir  —  dative,  mich  —  accusative 
form  of  the  pronoun  me)  he  mixed  occasionally  in  his 
speeches.  Some  thought  that  it  was  intentional,  others, 
that  it  was  lack  of  education.  Once  when  a  speaker 
expressed  the  latter  opinion  in  public,  Hoffmann  an- 
swered :  "  That's  the  result  of  your  poor  public 
schools."    And  the  laugh  was  on  his  side. 

The  chapter  becomes  more  serious  when  we  think  of 
the  policy  which  led  to  the  disruption  of  the  party.  lie 
had  thundered  against  participation  in  the  election 
for  the  Prussian  Landtag,  but  about  ten  years  ago  he 
allowed  them  to  put  him  on  the  list  of  candidates  for 
this  same  House.  During  the  war  he  severely  re- 
proached the  "  Government  Socialists  "  with  their  prac- 
tical and  positive  labor  policy;  not  a  speech  was  made 
but  what  he  held  up  the  Scheidemann  clique  to  con- 
tempt —  his  party  comrades  but  yesterday.  He  stood 
at  the  head  of  the  Labor  Union,  that  group  of  mal- 

115 


LEADERS  OF,  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

contents  who  supported  the  party  dogma,  and  among 
the  Independent  Socialists  he  was  the  Wild  Man  who 
daily  swung  sword  and  pistol  against  the  old  social 
democracy.  He  fought  for  the  intellectual  and  material 
possession  of  the  Vorivarts,  and  when  this  paper 
slijiped  from  his  hands,  he  tried  in  vain  to  found  a  new 
radical  paper.  He  could  not  get  permission  from  the 
Government  for  enough  paper,  hut  he  was  press  corporal 
of  the  Mitteilungs  Blatt,  issued  once  or  twice  a  week. 

And  then,  on  the  9th  of  November,  1918,  came  the 
revolution  so  passionately  longed  for.  The  people  arose. 
Adolph  Hoffmann  raced  madly  in  a  cab  all  through  the 
center  of  Berlin,  making  furious  speeches  on  every  cor- 
ner. The  horizon  turned  blood  red.  He  gathered  to- 
gether twelve  tried  men  and  true,  and  one  night  when 
he  thought  no  one  was  there,  they  entered  and  took  pos- 
session of  the  Moss  publishing  house  and  proceeded  to 
issue  the  Berliner  Volhszeitung  as  the  organ  of  the  In- 
dependent Socialists,  edition  No.  1. 

When  the  minister  posts  were  passed  around  in  the 
new  socialistic  Prussia,  he  assured  himself  of  the  post 
of  Minister  of  Education.  Together  with  Haenisch, 
leader  of  the  majority  Socialists,  he  took  over  the  office 
on  the  basis  of  "  fifty-fifty."  His  first  official  act  was  to 
advance  himself  a  year's  salary. 

And  then  began  a  harlequinade.  The  Deutsche 
Tageszeitung  smirked.  When  he  had  to  sign  a  document 

116 


ADOLPH  HOFFMAOT 

or  when  a  servant  brought  him  the  acts  of  the  executive 
council  he  was  wholly  at  a  loss  what  to  do.  If  he  had 
not  provided  himself  beforehand  with  a  confidential 
secretary,  the  personal  debacle  would  have  been  worse. 
He  disgraced  himself  on  all  sides  until  the  angels  wept. 
But  he  had  a  passion  for  reform  that  was  not  to  be 
stilled.  There  was  no  end  to  reform  proclamations. 
His  program  looked  like  a  kaleidoscope.  With  one 
stroke  of  the  pen  he  separated  state  and  church  and 
calmly  ordered  prayers  and  religion  to  be  left  out  of 
the  educational  system.  The  soul  of  the  Catholic 
Center  seethed.  A  new  Kultur  war  was  mapped  out  by 
the  Catholic  church.  The  bordering  Catholic  states, 
Upper  Silesia  and  Rhineland-Westphalia,  began  to 
make  propaganda  for  breaking  loose  from  Prussia. 
Storm  everywhere.  In  the  midst  of  this  general  culture 
jamboree,  Adolph  Hoffmann  announced  in  a  public 
speech  that,  if  the  election  for  the  National  Assembly 
did  not  show  a  socialistic  majority,  the  socialists  would 
break  up  the  Reichstag  with  force  even  if  they  had  to 
bring  out  the  machine  guns  again. 

Herr  Hoffmann  had  developed  from  a  democrat  to 
a  man  of  force.  It  was  high  time  that  he  laid  down  his 
"  work "  after  seven  weeks,  together  with  the  other 
"  Independent  "  ministers.  The  former  Royal  Prus- 
sian Kultur  could  not  have  borne  the  strain  much 
longer.     The  Geheimriite   (privy  councillors)   had  al- 

117 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

ready  threatened  to  strike,  and  the  Center  party  was 
making  alarming  disturbances  marching  through  the 
streets  and  demanding  his  scalp.  But  when  the  embit- 
tered ones  forced  their  way  into  his  house,  Ilerr  Hoff- 
mann was  not  to  be  found ;  he  had  hidden  himself  and 
thus  saved  his  precious  life. 

]STo  matter  how  you  may  judge  him,  when  you  think 
it  all  over  he  had  the  courage  of  his  convictions.  More 
than  once  he  was  put  behind  the  bars  for  libel,  and  that 
is  certainly  no  pleasure.  But  the  Swedish  curtains  did 
not  frighten  him  nor  change  his  opinions.  Adolph 
Hoffmann  remained  the  same  old  proletarian  Vulcan 
who  is  comfortable  only  when  he  can  spit  fire  and 
.sulphur.  He  has  lost  his  former  influence  since  the 
day  when  he  and  his  "  independent "  colleagues  with 
him  left  the  council  of  the  people's  representatives  for 
Prussia  and  Germany.  The  ex-minister  of  educational 
and  clerical  affairs  now  has  taken  his  place  in  the 
Reichstag  among  the  mockers,  obstructionists  and  scan- 
dal-makers. 


XV 

HELLMUT  VON  GERLACH 

The  Gerlachs  liave  played  no  small  role  in  the  history 
of  Prussia.  They  were  all  very  conservative.  Ilellmut 
von  Gerlach's  grandfather  was  once  president  of  police 
under  Friedrich  III ;  he  was  then  an  ordinary  citizen, 
but  was  knighted  and  went  to  Cologne  as  president  of 
the  Government  in  1839.  His  son  held  the  same  office. 
Hellmut  gave  promise  of  keeping  up  the  family  tradi- 
tion. He  studied  at  Jena,  passed  his  first  and  second 
state  examinations,  and  became  assistant  judge  in  the 
Landrat  at  Ratzeburg  in  the  district  of  Sachsenwald, 
where  the  old  man  spent  his  last  days  grumbling  and 
warning.  Gerlach,  faithful  to  the  Government  —  Bis- 
marck, bitterly  opposed  to  the  new  order  of  things,  op- 
posed to  "Wilhelm  II,  Caprivi,  Botticher,  and  all  the 
rest,  in  boundless  contempt  for  Stocker  who  wrote  his 
friends  in  a  notorious  letter,  that  it  would  be  a  good 
service  to  the  Kaiser  to  build  a  bonfire  and  throw  old 
Bismarck  into  it.  Gerlach  was  an  absolute  monarchist ; 
Bismarck  was  no  doubt  also  a  monarchist,  but  in  his 
passionate  battle  against  the  new  regime  he  uninten- 
tionally became  democratic.     He  did  not  stop  to  think 

119 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

that  he  broke  the  back  of  the  Reichstag  without  lessen- 
ing the  power  of  the  monarch  a  dot.  This  was  Bismarck 
and  Gerlach  in  Nthe  early  90's  when  they  came  into 
professional  contact. 

One  thing  Gerlach  had  in  common  with  the  human 
Vulcan :  the  necessity  of  creating  an  impression  on  poli- 
tics. This  desire  was  so  strong  that  Hellmut  began  to 
work  on  Stacker's  paper,  the  Yolk.  He  felt  himself 
drawn  to  that  group  of  Social  Conservatives,  or  young 
Conservatives,  which  looked  up  to  the  young  Tory,  Ran- 
dolph Churchill,  as  their  political  pattern.  Gerlach 
believed  he  could  reform  and  modernize  the  Conserva- 
tive party  socially  and  liberally.  For  this  reason  he 
fought  against  the  socialist  and  all  other  exceptional 
laws.  He  published  a  vigorous  article  against  the 
Reichstag  when  they  concluded  not  to  increase  the  in- 
come tax  to  four  per  cent  on  all  incomes  over  100,000 
marks.  On  account  of  this  article  Count  von  der 
Schulenburg,  Duke  von  Trachenberg,  and  other  high 
personages,  called  him  a  socialist  or  even  an  anarchist. 
He  was  forbidden  to  publish  any  further  articles  or 
to  appear  in  public  assemblies.  This  was  a  distinction 
that  hardly  any  other  government  barrister  ever  ac- 
quired. He  soon  became  editor  and  gave  up  his  offi- 
cial career.  All  at  once  he  was  in  the  middle  of  the 
Christian  socialistic  movement,  writing  and  agitating 
against  the  Jews  as  "  capitalistic  parasites.''    He  began 

120 


HELLMUT  VON  GERLACH 

to  work  for  the  social  ideas  of  Wagner  and  Schmoller 
under  the  cloak  of  bellicose  Christianity.  The  Con- 
servative party  admitted  the  justice  of  these  demands 
in  order  to  win  the  masses,  but  the  people  did  not  feel 
comfortable  in  this  feudal  society  for  any  length  of 
time;  they  soon  saw  the  purpose  and  got  in  a  bad 
humor.  In  1897  they  broke  loose,  Naumann,  Gohre, 
and  Gerlach,  and  founded  the  National  Socialistic  party 
on  a  platform  of  land  reform,  national  socialism,  and 
anti-Semitic  culture,  a  somewhat  hazy  program.  There 
was  plenty  of  enthusiasm  with  but  little  practical  suc- 
cess. It  remained  a  party  of  enthusiastic  officers  with- 
out any  troops.  They  could  scarcely  get  enough  under- 
officers  together  to  carry  on  their  propaganda  work. 
Gerlach  bought  the  Hessisclie  Landeszeitung  and  con- 
ducted this  paper  from  1898  to  1906.  During  the  first 
few  years  of  his  activity  on  this  paper  he  continued 
writing  leading  articles  for  the  Welt  am  Montag. 

Democratic  thoughts  crept  into  his  national-social- 
istic policy  and  he  was  soon  the  darling  of  the  official 
world.  In  a  certain  law  process  a  lawyer  compared  the 
Hessische  Landeszeitung  to  a  dirty  towel  on  which 
everybody  wiped  his  hands. 

In  1903  Gerlach  was  candidate  for  the  Reichstag  for 
the  first  time.  He  won  out  with  the  help  of  the  Center. 
In  the  meantime  the  National  Socialistic  party  went 
to  pieces  on  an  excess  of  intellect.    A  party  cannot  con- 

121 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

sist  entirely  of  speakers ;  there  must  be  a  few  listeners 
as  well.  The  Liberal  organization  joyfully  received 
most  of  them,  Gerlach  included.  The  rest  went  over 
to  the  Social  Democrats.  In  1907,  Gerlach  was  again 
candidate  but  lost  this  time.  He  moved  to  Berlin  and 
took  over  the  direction  of  the  Berliner  Zeitung  in  the 
Ullsteinhouse.  Under  the  greatest  opposition  he  called 
the  democratic  organization  into  being  and  struck  out 
strongly  right  and  left.  Finally  he  landed  in  the  Welt 
am  Montag  again  and  still  distinguishes  that  paper  with 
his  Monday  articles. 

This  is  Hellmut  von  Gerlach's  career.  He  is  a  demo- 
crat of  the  purest  water,  distilled  democracy.  But  he 
lacks  one  thing  —  the  inner  fire  which  immediately 
impresses  the  reader  or  listener  in  all  that  he  writes  or 
says.  He  is  a  rationalist  through  and  through.  But 
the  rationalizing  of  his  daily  life  is  not  always  correct 
or  even  reasonable.  He  strives  to  learn  much  of  every- 
thing, loses  his  way  and  only  finds  it  again  laboriously 
on  the  path  of  journalism.  This  is  a  sympathetic,  a 
kindly  weakness,  but  nevertheless  a  weakness.  His 
articles  are  often  not  penetrating  enough,  they  are  too 
superficial  and  confine  themselves  to  mere  statement 
of  facts.  He  registers  presumptions,  assertions,  proofs, 
builds  up  his  thought  system  mathematically,  therefore 
lacking  inner  "  warmth  and  dampness,"  to  use  an 
expression  of  Xenophon's. 

122 


HELLMUT  Y03T  GERLACH 

When  one  hears  him  speak  or  sees  him  write,  often 
grinning  sarcastically  but  always  soberly  consequential, 
one  is  involuntarily  reminded  of  Pan.  Every  Monday 
morning  early  he  suddenly  pops  out  of  the  forest  of 
everyday  duties,  blows  his  little  flute  admonishingly, 
and  points  out  the  political  errors  of  the  past  week. 
And  many  buy  his  paper  even  if  they  are  not  at  all 
democratic,  and  read  it  with  curiosity  and  gratitude 
because  of  the  liberal  thoughts  and  continual  ciy  for 
peace  contained  therein. 

He  failed  utterly  as  under-secret ary  of  the  Prussian 
Ministry,  to  which  he  was  appointed  by  the  revolution- 
ary cabinet.  lie  was  sent  to  Posen  to  report  on  the 
doings  of  the  Poles;  was  completely  taken  in  by  the 
courtesy  of  the  Pan-Polish  National  Democrats  and  re- 
ported everything  rosy.  Soon  afterwards  the  Poles  be- 
gan systematically  to  conquer  the  German  Ostmark  in 
order  to  have  a  fait  accompli  for  the  peace  conference. 


XVI 

KARL  THEODOR  HELFFERICH 

Dr.  Helfferich,  once  more,  found  a  new  sphere  of 
activity,  this  time  far  from  the  Center.  He  was  the 
murdered  Count  Mirbach's  successor  in  Moscow.  Many 
official  and  nonofficial  circles  in  Berlin  heaved  a  sigh 
of  relief  when  he  finally  settled  down  for  a  time  where 
he  could  not  disturb  with  his  aspirations  every  change 
of  secretary  or  ambassador.  Dr.  Helfferich,  personi- 
fying perpetual  motion,  had  the  pleasant  task  of  trans- 
acting business  with  Bolsheviki  and  revolutionists  be- 
tween bomb  fuses,  so  to  speak.  He,  the  most  outspoken 
friend  of  capitalism,  must  manage  to  get  along  with 
the  "deadly  enemies  of  capitalism  and  bourgeois  soci- 
ety." ISTot  only  this,  but  he  must  also  pave  the  way  for 
resuming  economic  relations  with  Russia. 

Helfferich  was  a  man  who  undertook  much  but  who 
had  no  perseverance.  Everything  must  be  won  at  first 
assault.  When  he  stood  on  top,  a  restless,  fidgety 
person,  he  did  not  stay  there  long;  he  already  cast  his 
eye  about  for  new  fields  to  conquer. 

He  was  born  and  grew  to  manhood  in  a  house  tra- 
ditionally democratic.     His  father  was  a  leader  of  the 

124 


EARL  THEODOR  HELFFERICH 

Progressive  People's  party  in  the  Palatinate.  More 
than  once  the  young  Karl  Theodor  climbed  upon  the 
Hambacker  Hohe  where  once  a  thousand  men  and 
women  gathered  in  1832,  to  demonstrate  for  freedom 
and  a  united  Germany.  Siebenpfeiffer  saw  the  day 
coming  "  when  Princes  would  exchange  their  feudal 
ermine  for  the  manly  toga  of  German  nationality; 
when  the  German  woman  would  no  longer  be  the  ser- 
vant of  the  man  but  a  free  comrade  of  free  citizens 
nursing  their  sons  and  daughters  with  the  milk  of  free- 
dom ! "  And  then  this  gathering,  full  of  lovely  Pf alz 
wine,  sang :  "  Courage,  courage,  courage !  God  will 
not  forsake  us  if  we  keep  his  word  in  faith.  Passion- 
ately let  us  love  and  passionately  hate." 

The  next  day  they  discussed  whether  a  provisory 
Government  should  be  established  for  free  Germany. 
But  this  brave,  and  yet  so  pedantic,  proposition  was  re- 
jected. Even  if  this  movement  did  come  to  nothing 
but  a  wine  frolic,  their  children  and  children's  children 
cherished  the  thought  in  their  hearts,  and  if  you  ever 
visit  the  Palatinate  it  will  whisper  to  you  from  every 
corner  of  the  glorious  days  of  the  past.  Even  Karl 
Theodor  was  fascinated  by  the  magic  of  it.  The  song 
of  freedom  filled  his  youthful  soul.  In  an  impetuous, 
poetical  frenzy,  he  wrote  a  drama :  "  It  is  joy  to  live ! " 
Later  when  he  was  tottering  on  his  Vice-Chancellor 
throne,  deserted  by  the  Left  and  the  Center,  when  he 

125 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

tried  to  support  himself  by  turning  to  the  Conservatives, 
the  papers  made  a  sarcastic  allusion  to  his  poetical  gifts. 
This  pained  him  so  much  that  he  notified  the  press 
through  Wolff's  telegraph  bureau  to  refrain  from  speak- 
ing of  this  youthful  error. 

He  attended  the  universities  of  Munich,  Berlin  and 
Strassburg,  studying  political  economy.  After  complet- 
ing his  studies  he  made  a  tour  of  foreign  lands.  At 
twenty-three  he  took  part  in  the  coinage  battle;  natu- 
rally he  was  for  a  gold  standard.  At  twenty-seven  he 
entered  the  University  of  Berlin  as  lecturer.  His  career 
began.  A  shrewd,  versatile,  practical  man,  scientifically 
schooled,  with  energy  and  will  and  a  full  pocketbook, — 
not  too  full, —  with  an  eye  to  the  needs  of  the  moment ; 
could  fate  hinder  the  progress  of  such  a  man  ?  A  year 
later  he  was  lecturing  on  colonial  policy  in  the  seminary 
for  oriental  languages;  a  year  after  that  he  found  his 
way  to  the  Government.  He  entered  the  colonial  de- 
partment of  the  Foreign  Office.  In  the  course  of  one 
year  he  was  professor,  Councillor  of  the  Legation,  and 
acting  Councillor  of  the  Legation.  He  was  the  delegate 
of  the  German  Government  at  the  Berlin  transactions 
of  the  American-Mexican  coinage  commission.  He  soon 
acquired  the  reputation  of  being  a  very  clever  lawyer, 
and  as  he  had  had  enough  of  official  life,  he  began  to 
work  for  private  concerns.  Financial  circles  had  long 
had  their  eye  on  him.    He  had  shown  himself  especially 

126 


KARL  THEODOR  HELFFERICH 

clever  and  adroit  as  a  Government  commissioner  in 
colonial  transactions.  At  least  this  was  the  general  im- 
pression ;  and  then  there  was  his  book  on  money  which 
won  for  him  the  reputation  of  being  a  keen  financial 
man.  In  1906  he  entered  the  executive  department  of 
the  Anatole  Railroad  Company  and  after  two  years  was 
appointed  director  of  the  Deutsche  Bank.  He  seemed 
to  want  to  stay  there  longer  than  in  other  positions  and 
waited  for  another  day  to  come.  And  it  came.  He 
wrote  new  books  on  Germany's  national  wealth  and  the 
causes  of  the  war.  In  January,  1915,  he  was  asked  by 
Bethmann-IIollweg  to  take  over  the  treasury  in  place 
of  Herr  Kiihn,  who  was  leaving  on  account  of  poor 
health.  At  last  a  sphere  of  activity  was  opened  to  him 
where  he  could  develop  his  whole  ability  and  where  he 
might  accomplish  great  things.  The  press  was  favor- 
able to  him  and  in  general  everybody  was  glad  that  one 
of  the  most  important  political  posts  should  be  occupied 
by  a  man  theoretically  and  practically  trained  for  it. 

Dr.  HelfTerich  came,  saw,  and  conquered,  at  first. 

"  I  have  taken  over  this  office,"  he  declared  to  the 
Reichstag  in  his  maiden  speech,  "with  the  obligation 
of  financing  the  war  and  keeping  our  financial  position 
on  a  firm  basis." 

He  raised  the  funds.  Under  his  leadership  almost 
thirty-two  milliards  were  extorted  from  the  people. 
Herr  Kiihn,  his  predecessor,  had  been  able  to  raise  only 

127 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

four  and  one-half  milliards  for  the  first  loan.  This  was 
too  little.  The  old  bureaucratic  method  must  be  aban- 
doned and  a  new  propaganda  system  invented.  Dr. 
Helfferich  was  a  master  at  advertising;  he  adopted 
American  methods  to  get  the  people  to  give  up  their 
money  willingly.  This  is  about  the  largest  legacy  he 
left  behind  him  —  bluff.  On  closer  examination  we 
find  that  nothing  else  will  hold  water. 

Each  war  loan  was  almost  a  personal  victory  and  yet, 
in  the  noise  of  triumph,  one  must  not  forget  a  man  who 
played  a  strong  part  in  the  success  of  these  financial 
schemes  —  Dr.  Havenstein,  president  of  the  Reichs- 
bank.  When  Helfferich  faced  the  problem  of  a  new 
financial  system  he  failed  miserably.  Five  hundred 
million  marks  were  to  be  raised.  ¥ow  was  the  time 
to  unfold  his  genius,  to  develop  great  reform  ideas. 
The  time  was  favorable;  but  what  did  Helfferich  do? 
Like  a  miserable  ragpicker  he  scratched  a  few  small 
taxes  together  and  loaded  them  onto  trade,  industry 
and  traffic.  He,  the  economist,  the  financial  theorist, 
the  colonial  politician! 

The  Reichstag  was  disappointed,  grumbled,  picked 
his  tax  bouquet  to  pieces,  and  came  into  conflict  with 
him.  He  met  the  Social  Democrats  with  the  words: 
"  I  forbid  you  to  say  such  things !  "  Naturally  they 
only  laughed  at  him.  He  could  not  understand  why 
the  Reichstag  did  not  approve  of  his  plan  of  taxing 

128 


KARL  THEODOR  HELFFERICH 

industrial  and  traffic  concerns,  his  carefully  thought- 
out  scheme  of  covering  the  deficit.  True,  his  arithmetic 
was  incontestable ;  everything  balanced.  But  it  had  its 
dark  side.  The  theoretical  economist  had  figured  too 
abstractly  —  had  undervalued  the  power  of  party  and 
professional  interests.  This  method  of  valuation  of 
people  and  things  reminds  one  of  Colquhoun,  of  whom 
Heine  relates  in  his  English  Fragments:  "  In  order 
to  give  his  readers  an  idea  of  the  unlimited  resources  of 
the  nation,  he  took  an  inventory  of  everything  in  the 
country  down  to  the  rabbits."  Heine  wittily  remarks : 
"  He  seemed  to  regret  that  he  could  not  reckon  in  the 
rats  and  the  mice." 

When  the  Reichstag  had  corrected  his  tax  plan,  re- 
placing the  indirect  tax  by  a  direct  income  tax,  and 
when  the  Bundesrat  had  approved  of  this  system, 
Helfferich  withdrew  in  bad  humor  as  if  he  had  been 
personally  injured.  Why  had  he  hastily  declared  to 
the  Reichstag  during  the  tax  transactions :  "  The  Gov- 
ernments are  of  the  opinion  that  with  the  exception  of 
a  tax  on  war  profiteering,  any  further  direct  national 
tax  is  impossible."  Afterwards  when  the  Government 
deserted  him  he  compromised.  The  tax  compromise 
was  concluded  without  him,  but  he  gave  in  gracefully 
because  the  way  was  already  open  for  a  higher  position. 
Slowly  he  had  paved  the  way  to  it.  His  position  a3 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  did  not  satisfy  him;  he 

129 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

longed  for  political  laurels.  In  his  first  great  Reichstag 
speech  on  March  15,  1915,  he  declared  with  assurance: 
"It  is  Germany's  intention  to  let  the  enemy  pay  for 
the  material  damage  they  have  caused  by  this  wanton 
war."  A  year  later  on  another  March  day,  he  expressed 
the  same  thought  but  somewhat  modified :  "  We  may 
hope  for  a  financially  favorable  peace  —  indeed  we 
maintain  this  hope  —  but  in  spite  of  this  an  increase 
of  national  funds  is  very  necessary."  Karl  Theodor 
had  begun  to  learn  a  few  things,  especially  about  unre- 
stricted submarine  warfare.  He  knew  how  great  the 
danger  from  American  sources  was ;  as  a  political  econo- 
mist he  knew  America's  resources ;  her  energy,  material, 
men,  and  money.  Although  he  was  one  of  the  most 
energetic  opponents  of  a  submarine  war,  he  allowed 
himself  to  be  won  over  against  his  better  judgment  like 
Bethmann-Hollweg,  his  chief.  At  that  time  he  was  Sec- 
retary of  the  Interior  and  Vice-Chancellor,  a  welcome 
guest  at  General  Headquarters.  This  loquacious  man 
who  never  lost  his  mental  balance  and  alwavs  fell  on  his 

%J 

feet,  made  an  excellent  impression  on  the  Kaiser.  He 
soon  basked  in  the  sunlight  of  imperial  favor,  but  he 
could  not  get  along  with  the  Reichstag.  They  did  not 
always  want  what  he  wanted.  They  ventured  to  contra- 
dict when  the  great  authority  spoke,  and  spoil  his  con- 
cept. What  did  they  know  of  the  things  he  commanded  ? 
As  head  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior  he  worked 

130 


KARL  THEODOR  HELFFERICH 

industriously  to  become  acquainted  with  the  new 
sphere,  but  with  a  sort  of  mimicry,  an  ability  to  fit 
into  the  old  system  which  soon  developed  into  a  fanatical 
bureaucracy.  He  carried  this  autocracy  into  the  Reich- 
stag and  this  was  his  misfortune.  Although  the  food 
department  had  been  separated  from  the  Department  of 
the  Interior,  the  new  office  proved  too  much  for  Dr. 
Helfferich.  He  met  the  problems  and  people  with  in- 
creasing nervousness;  his  irritability  brought  him  into 
painful  situations  more  than  once. 

In  spite  of  an  excess  of  work  which  threatened  to 
swamp  the  office,  he  was  at  first  an  outspoken  opponent 
of  a  division  of  the  department,  but  finally  accepted  it, 
reserving  the  post  of  Vice-Chancellor  for  himself.  He 
did  not  retain  this  exposed  position  for  more  than 
twenty-five  days.  The  Reichstag  got  him  out,  although 
he  fought  tooth  and  nail  against  it.  Herr  von  Payer 
took  his  place.    Ajax  fell  by  his  own  strength. 

When  one  looks  back  over  his  political  legacy  one 
sees  nothing  but  fragments.  The  patriotic  service  law 
introduced  by  him  was  wholly  changed  by  the  Reichs- 
tag. Only  the  idea  remained.  It  was  a  mere  accident 
that  the  Reichstag  let  itself  be  intimidated  by  a  threat 
that  the  bill  would  fall  through  if  a  court  of  arbitration 
and  a  labor  commission  were  forced  upon  the  railroads. 
I  can  still  see  Dr.  Helfferich  sweating  and  moving  rest- 
lessly back  and  forth  on  his  bench.     What  if  the  ma- 

131 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

jority  went  against  him  ?  Either  the  Government  must 
withdraw  the  draft  which  was  the  kernel  of  Hinden- 
burg's  policy,  or  he  must  resign  on  account  of  his  too 
hasty  utterances.  But  the  god  Mercury  was  gracious. 
By  a  majority  of  one  single  vote  the  demands  of  the 
Left  were  rejected  —  and  he  was  on  top  again.  He 
could  rub  his  hands  with  satisfaction.  In  his  exuber- 
ance he  committed  the  indiscretion  of  saying  in  the 
semi-official  Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung  that 
he  could  have  carried  out  his  service  law  without  the 
Reichstag's  aid.  Tableau.  The  press  made  a  noise  and 
Herr  Helfferich  retracted. 

His  greatest  parliamentary  defeat  took  place  at  the 
interpellation  of  the  Pan-German  propaganda  in  the 
army.  Amid  great  uproar  in  the  House  he  made  the 
remark  that  no  one  seemed  to  trust  him  any  more. 
No !  No !  was  repeated  so  often,  even  by  the  Conserva- 
tives, that  he  left  the  speaker's  platform  with  flapping 
coat-tails. 

The  only  regulation  he  succeeded  in  putting  through 
was  that  in  regard  to  rebuilding  the  fleet.  In  spite  of 
the  Reichstag's  lack  of  confidence  Dr.  Helfferich  still 
considered  himself  indispensable.  He  had  outlived 
Bethmann-Hollweg  and  Michaelis,  why  not  Count 
Hertling?  This  intellectual  profiteer  had  long  since 
thrown  his  political  principles  overboard;  democratic 
from  tradition,  he  developed  the  views  of  the  Father- 

132 


KARL  THEODOR  HELFFERICH 

land  party  and  finally  must  have  had  to  admit  to  him- 
self that  he  had  stood  on  the  wrong  side  —  the  course 
of  events  had  changed  and  was  running  strong  for  the 
Left. 

Things  were  quiet  for  a  few  weeks  after  he  had  been 
politely  requested  a  few  thousand  times  to  leave.  But 
only  for  a  few  weeks.  He  dived  up  again  serenely  from 
below.  He  refused  a  seat  in  a  university  as  professor 
of  political  economy.  He  stayed  in  Berlin  —  the 
source  of  all  things  —  and  waited.  After  a  short  time 
he  accepted  a  post  of  honor  from  the  Chancellor,  pre- 
paring for  the  transition  period. 

And  then  he  sat  in  Moscow  between  Bolsheviki  and 
revolutionists  (after  attempting  to  obtain  Kiihlmann's 
place  in  the  Foreign  Office)  sending  the  worst  possible 
news  from  this  new,  and  yet  so  old,  capital  of  Russia. 

The  ground  became  too  hot  under  his  feet.  The  Ger- 
man diplomatic  corps  retired  to  Pleskau  behind  the 
trenches  and  Dr.  Helfferich  brought  his  valuable  carcass 
back  to  Berlin  a  tempo. 

The  German  Philistines,  the  Progressives,  and  Na- 
tional Liberals  could  sleep  peacefully  once  more — ■ 
they  had  their  Helfferich  back  again.  He  loathed  the 
new  order  of  things  that  followed  the  revolution.  To 
be  put  aside  became  unbearable  to  him,  so,  as  a  sort  of 
prelude  to  future  reactional  performances,  he  started 
a  furious  press-campaign  against  Erzberger.     In  the 

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LEADERS  OE  JESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

following  sensational  trial  he  was  made  the  defendant 
on  charges  of  libel  and  defamation  of  character,  pre- 
ferred by  Erzberger.  The  sensation  caused  in  Germany 
by  the  publication  of  the  list  of  war  criminals  demanded 
by  the  Entente  overshadowed  for  only  a  moment  the 
Helfrerich  case.  He  set  all  Germany  talking  about 
himself,  and,  oh,  it  did  his  heart  a  lot  of  good. 

The  great  trial  ended.  As  a  result  Erzberger  re- 
signed from  office;  Helfferich  paid  the  legal  costs! 
Typical,  in  a  way,  of  both  men. 


XVII 

PHILIP  SCHEIDEMANtf 

A  yellowish  white  goatee  pasted  on  a  triangle  —  this 
is  Philip  Scheidemann's  face  —  a  broad,  shiny  path 
leads  across  the  top  of  his  large  skull,  with  tufts  of  hair 
sticking  out  at  the  sides  like  the  hedge  along  a  country 
road.  Two  watery  blue  eyes  peep  calmly  out  of  their 
tiny  caverns.  This  head,  which  attracts  attention  at 
the  first  glance,  rests  upon  a  somewhat  undersized 
body.  Scheidemann  has  grown  above  the  proletarian 
class  without  having  acquired  the  allurements  of  the 
bourgeois. 

He  is  a  self-made  man.  Born  at  Cassel  fifty-three 
years  ago,  he  entered  the  people's  school  and  learned  the 
printer's  trade  like  Henry  George,  the  great  American 
land  reformer.  From  typesetter  he  advanced  to  proof- 
reader and  then  to  foreman.  Finally  he  became  a  jour- 
nalist. At  thirty  years  of  age  he  was  editor  of  the  Mit- 
teldeutsche  Sonntags-Zeitung  in  Giessen;  he  remained 
at  this  post  for  five  years  and  then  edited,  one  after  an- 
other, the  social  democrat  papers  in  Nurnberg,  Offen- 
bach, and  Cassel.  lie  settled  down  for  some  time 
and  was  elected  to  the  Reichstag.     In  1911  he  became 

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LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 

a  leader  of  the  Social  Democrat  party,  gave  up  his 
mandate,  and  went  to  live  in  Berlin-Steglitz. 

Once  he  was  blood-red  in  his  socialistic  opinions,  and 
settled  at  the  outermost  edge  of  the  left  wing  of  his 
party.  He  liked  to  speak  on  party  days,  but  he  was  no 
blusterer  like  Zubeil,  Ledebour,  and  Stadthagen,  who 
went  opposition  at  any  price.  With  all  his  radicalism 
he  always  left  a  way  open  for  retreat  when  necessary, 
and  did  not  assume  that  hateful,  personal  tone  when 
speaking  of  party  heretics ;  he  could  also  get  along  well 
with  Bebel,  the  One  and  Only. 

He  played  no  small  role  in  the  Reichstag  even  before 
the  war.  At  one  time  there  was  a  scandal.  In  a  speech 
in  1912,  Schiedemann  attacked  the  Hohenzollerns,  men- 
tioning broken  promises  and  other  similar  things.  Sud- 
denly Bethmann-Hollweg  arose  in  all  his  great  length, 
gave  his  comrades  in  the  Bundesrat  a  meaning  look,  and 
marched  out  with  them  at  his  heels.  The  Bundesrat 
struck.  It  was  no  novelty;  in  May,  1881,  the  same 
thing  happened  under  Eugen  Richter.  In  Scheide- 
mann's  case,  the  president,  who  had  perhaps  nodded  a 
bit  during  the  speech,  did  not  really  know  what  had 
happened  for  the  moment.  He  waited  until  the  steno- 
gram  was  finished,  then  dutifully  called  for  order,  and 
the  gentlemen  of  the  Government  slowly  found  their 
Way  back  to  their  seats. 

He  was   a   stumbling  block   again   in   1912,   when 

136 


PHILIP  SCHEIDEMAKN" 

the  new  Reichstag  was  elected  and  the  blue-black  block 
(Conservative  and  Center,  the  Catholic  party)  suf- 
fered a  defeat.  This  fact  had  to  be  recognized  in  the 
new  majority  at  the  presidential  election.  The  Social 
Democrats  were  the  strongest  party  at  the  election,  but 
they  agreed  with  the  Left  to  choose  a  president  from  the 
second  strongest  party,  the  Center.  Ilerr  Spahn,  presi- 
dent of  the  Supreme  Court  and  political  light  of  the 
Center,  became  president,  Schiedemann,  first  vice-presi- 
dent, and  Herr  Paasche,  from  the  National  Liberals, 
second  vice-president.  Germany  threatened  to  collapse 
when  she  found  out  there  was  a  real,  red  Social  Demo- 
crat in  the  presidency  of  the  Reichstag.  The  paj)ers  be- 
gan to  rage  and  storm  and  Herr  Spahn  hastily  resigned. 
One  couldn't  really  sit  on  the  German  people's  seat  of 
honor  hand  in  hand  with  a  Social  Democrat.  A  new 
vote  was  cast.  Herr  Scheidemann  was  not  reelected  this 
time,  and  Germany  was  saved.  All  the  political  mor- 
alists went  about  with  beaming  faces.  Herr  Schiede- 
mann, who  had  bought  a  brand  new  black  coat  for  the 
occasion,  wore  it  only  one  day. 

Things  were  different  during  the  war.  Scheidemann, 
the  Red,  with  diplomatic  cleverness,  turned  over  to  the 
right  side,  left  off  his  gruff  opposition,  and  approved 
of  the  war  credit  and  a  positive  labor  policy.  Indirectly 
he  had  a  strong  effect  upon  Bethmann-Hollweg,  and 
from  a  distance  vaccinated  him  with  the  teachings  of 

137 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 

democracy.  Like  Theodor  Wolff,  he  immediately  began 
to  work  for  a  compromise,  a  peace  without  annexation 
or  compensation;  he  was  never  tired  of  preaching  this 
idea.  Scheidemann-peace  soon  "became  a  catchword. 
But  because  he  would  not  accept  a  peace  at  any  price, 
because  he  did  not  fight  blindly  against  the  Government, 
and  would  not  refuse  the  war  credit,  he  soon  came  into 
conflict  with  the  left  wing  of  the  House,  with  Haase, 
Bernstein,  Hoffmann,  and  company.  After  stormy 
scenes  in  the  Reichstag  came  an  open  breach;  the 
"  Social  Democratic  League "  broke  loose,  Haase  re- 
signed and  Scheidemann  took  his  place.  From  this 
time  on  he  had  a  heavy  battle  with  the  radicals  in  the 
Solingen  district. 

In  the  Reichstag  he  was  one  of  the  most  effective 
speakers;  he  had  a  crisp  manner  of  delivery  with  a 
somewhat  sharp  undertone.  Ready  of  wit,  he  had  an 
answer  for  every  attack ;  sarcasm  and  humor  spiced  his 
conversation.  Being  elegant  and  smooth-tongued,  he 
was  envied  by  many  a  minister  for  his  gift  of  speech. 
The  Vorwarts  often  published  his  speeches. 

He  kept  in  touch  with  the  socialists  of  foreign  coun- 
tries during  the  war  and  often  went  to  Holland  and 
Sweden.  Whenever  he  packed  his  trunks  the  Conserva- 
tives, scenting  trouble,  began  to  grow  uneasy. 

He  it  was  who  first  uttered  the  apt  words,  "  pyramid 
of  skulls  "  and  "  fools  who  still  believed  in  a  military 

138 


PHILIP  SCHEIDEMANN 

victory."  It  was  due  to  his  clever  political  tactics  that 
the  Reichstag  majority  was  formed  which  put  an  end 
to  the  dismembered  condition  of  the  Reichstag  from 
which  the  Right  profited  so  much.  He  entered  the  peo- 
ple's Government  as  Secretary  of  State,  together  with 
Groeber,  Erzberger,  Haussmann,  aud  Friedberg,  the 
quintet  headed  by  Prince  Max  von  Baden.  He  it  was 
who  proclaimed  the  new  Social  Republic  from  the  bal- 
cony of  the  Reichstag  on  the  9th  of  November.  As  a 
decisive  and  strong  man  he  played  no  small  role  in 
Ebert's  revolutionary  cabinet ;  together  with  the  Secre- 
tary for  Foreign  Affairs  he  was  chosen  leader  of  the 
peace  commissioners. 

"When  on  February  6,  1919,  the  revolutionary  council 
of  people's  representatives  placed  their  portfolios  in  the 
hands  of  the  National  Assembly,  Schiedemann  entered 
the  Cabinet  formed  by  the  three  democratic  parties,  the 
Democrats,  the  Catholic  Centrists  and  the  old  Social 
Democrats,  as  Prime  Minister.  But  his  new  glory, 
propped  up  largely  by  parliamentary  rhetorics,  could 
not  last  long.  When  the  unexpectedly  severe  terms  of 
the  peace  treaty  became  known,  Schiedemann,  after 
some  wavering,  finally  said  "  iSTever !  "  and  declared 
that  "  the  hand  that  signs  this  peace  ought  to  rot." 
The  peremptory  "  Either  —  Or  "  of  the  Entente  fin- 
ished the  Schiedemann  Cabinet.  There  was  nothing 
for  him  to  do  but  to  resign.     He  went  to  Switzerland 

139 


LEADERS  0E  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

for  some  months.  While  still  there,  he  was  tendered 
the  chairmanship  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Rela- 
tions which  he  accepted,  and  shortly  after  his  return  to 
Germany  his  Cassel  speech  rang  like  a  trumpet  blast 
throughout  the  country,  warning  the  new  German  re- 
public of  the  ever-present  and  steadily  growing  menace 
of  a  counter-revolution  by  the  militarist  and  reactionary 
parties  and  elements,  a  prediction  which  events  seem 
to  have  justified.  At  the  beginning  of  1920  he  was 
elected  First  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Cassel,  where  he 
Was  born. 

From  printer's  boy  to  minister  and  Excellence  — 
one  has  heard  of  like  cases  in  America. 


XVIII 

HERMANN  PAASCHE 

Not  on±y  serious  political  conversations  are  carried 
on  in  the  imposing  vaulted  lobby  of  the  Reichstag ;  nor 
are  mere  economic  questions  the  sole  subject  of  dis- 
cussion. "No,  it  is  here  that  real  business  is  done,  or 
better,  prepared.  In  bluish  cigar-smoke  and  comfortable 
leather  chairs,  it  is  discussed  just  as  it  is  everywhere 
else  in  the  masculine  world.  The  atmosphere  is  much 
too  masculine  since  general  secretaries  and  recorders 
began  to  increase  like  the  sands  of  the  sea  among  par- 
liamentarians ;  since  trusts,  syndicates,  associations,  and 
gigantic  business  firms  are  sending  their  representatives 
to  the  Reichstag.  Every  tiny  business  concern  seeks  a 
connection  with  the  outer  World  through  a  representa- 
tive. Lately  I  was  asked  if  I  knew  some  comrade,  some 
"  representative  of  the  people "  who  would  take  over 
an  easy  position  with  a  syndicate.  For  a  reasonably 
high  salary  he  was  to  establish  and  cultivate  "relations." 
Others  belong  to  one,  two,  three,  or  more  boards,  accord- 
ing to  their  reputation  and  position  in  the  party. 

Of  course  there  are  strictly  honorable  men  in  the 
Reichstag  and  Landtag,  who  are  merchants  or  financial 

141 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

men  and  members  of  boards,  whom  no  one  can  reproach 
for  misusing  or  abusing  their  position.  But  there  are 
others  for  whom  the  border  line  is  blurred,  who  half- 
unconsciously  make  business  of  politics  and  politics  of 
business.  One  became  an  adept  at  this  and  that  was 
Hermann  Paasche,  vice-president  of  the  Reichstag. 
Here  is  a  whole  ball  of  yarn  to  untangle. 

Papers  and  pamphlets  have  long  made  biting  remarks 
about  ITerr  Paasche's  commercial  politics,  but  they  did 
not  venture  to  publish  a  lot  of  details  which  would 
serve  to  give  us  a  life-size  portrait  of  this  business  poli- 
tician. I  will  try  to  make  good  the  deficiency,  but  must 
confess  beforehand  that  I  cannot  exhaust  the  topic  nor 
expose  all  of  Herr  Paasche's  doings  because  some  of 
them  are  not  yet  finished. 

He  is  somewhat  above  the  average  height,  slightly 
stooped,  and  wears  a  filthy,  black  overcoat.  When  one 
sees  him  carelessly  shambling  along,  or  hears  him  bub- 
bling like  a  soda-water  fountain  for  hours  at  a  time, 
when  one  looks  into  his  twinkling,  good-natured,  little, 
black-currant  eyes  bedded  in  his  comfortable,  round 
face  —  one  cannot  believe  what  one  hears  of  him  behind 
the  scenes.  This  good-natured  old  uncle  of  sixty-eight, 
who  still  looks  as  if  he  just  came  from  the  farm ! 

Hermann  Paasche  was  an  agrarian  in  his  younger 
years  and  still  is  on  a  large  scale.  He  generally  retired 
to  his  beautiful  estate,  "  Waldfrieden,"  by  Hochzeit  in 

142 


HERMANN  PAASCHE 

Neumark,  to  rest  from  his  political  exertions.  This  was 
"Wilhelm  Bruhn's  election  district,  with  whom  Paasche 
was  on  the  best  of  terms.  In  Halle  he  studied  political 
economy;  in  1877  he  went  to  Aix-la-Chapelle  as  lec- 
turer, and  then  to  Rostock  as  professor.  Against  the 
will  of  the  faculty  he  went  to  Marburg;  Althoff,  the 
Allpowerful  from  the  Ministry  of  Education,  favored 
him  and  half  forced  him  upon  the  university.  About 
this  time  his  parliamentary  career  began,  but  on  account 
of  his  leaving  Mecklenburg  in  1884,  he  had  to  give  up 
his  Mecklenburg  mandate.  He  kept  away  from  politics 
for  nine  years.  Then  he  was  sent  to  the  Diet  from 
Meiningen  and  represented  Kreuznach-Simmern  in  the 
Reichstag. 

As  professor  he  was  not  very  highly  treasured.  I  do 
not  know  of  one  student  who  looked  up  to  him  as  a 
teacher  —  I  know  only  of  those  who  covered  their  ears 
and  shuddered  when  they  thought  of  the  cataract  of 
words  that  poured  from  his  mouth.  He  would  give  the 
contents  of  whole  books  in  forty-five  minutes,  but  I  am 
sure  there  was  more  quantity  than  quality.  His  literary 
works  consisted  of  insignificant  publications  on  various 
subjects.  One  seeks  in  vain  for  original  ideas;  they 
are  mere  statements  of  facts  and  statistics.  There  aro 
a  few  travel  sketches  among  them  of  trips  to  North  and 
Central  America,  to  Jamaica  and  Cuba.  A  few  years 
before  the  war  he  was  also  in  East  Africa.     Writing 

143 


LEADERS  OF,  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

was  not  his  field;  his  talents  were  bent  in  another 
direction.  He  settled  down  on  the  periphery  of  busi- 
ness life  and  soon  attained  the  success  denied  him  as  a 
scholar.  He  obtained  a  good  position  in  the  National 
Liberal  party.  He  had  economic  problems  to  deal 
with  as  his  special  territory,  and  soon  became  an 
authority  on  such  things  in  the  party.  Government  men 
crowded  about  him  and  new  relations  and  business  con- 
nections were  formed.  Industrial  firms  who  largely 
depend  upon  Government  orders,  or  firms  interested  in 
the  outcome  of  a  tax  or  tariff  law,  fought  for  his  pro- 
tection.   Little  by  little  he  became: 

President  of  the  Board  of  Howaldt's  Works. 
Board  member  of  the: 

German  Mineral  Oil  Industry,  A.  G. 
German-Bohemian  Coal  and  Pressed  Coal  Works, 

A.  G.  in  Dresden. 
Brewery,    Alcohol,    and   Yeast   Works,    formerly 
G.  Skinner,  Smelter  Works,  C.  Wilh.  Kayser  & 
Co.,  A.  G. 
Rhineland  Metal  and  Machine  Factory. 
Rositzer  Sugar  Refinery,  A.  G. 
Telephone  Factory,  A.  G.,  formerly  J.  Berliner. 
Is  that  all?     These  are  not  all  by  any  means,  only 
tHe  largest  firms  are  mentioned  here.     There  are  all 
sorts  of  shady  and  shadier  transactions,  but  I  shall  men- 
tion only  a  few  which  best  represent  Herr  Paasche,  the 

144 


HERMANN  PAASCHE 

great  National  Liberal  patriot  and  representative  of  the 
people. 

Before  the  war  when  Americans  were  contemplating 
drawing  the  German  cigarette  industry  into  the  com- 
bine, for  some  unknown  reason  he  took  the  part  of  the 
firms  who  had  entered  the  American  trust  and  fought 
against  the  anti-trust  League.  Again  we  see  him  on 
the  side  of  the  foreigners  when  a  number  of  foreign 
moving-picture  concerns,  Gaumont,  Eclair,  Cines,  etc., 
sought  to  form  a  combine  which  would  have  ruined  the 
German  picture  industry.  The  day  was  saved  by  the  Paris 
firm,  Pathe  Freres,  who  refused  to  enter  the  combine. 

During  the  war,  of  course,  Dr.  Paasche  confined  his 
activities  to  German  allies;  he  played  a  leading  role  in 
the  Austrian-Hungarian  economic  league,  edited  the 
WirtscJiaftszeitung  for  the  Central  powers,  had  his 
hand  in  the  German-Austrian-Hungarian  railway  con- 
cern, made  frequent  trips  to  Vienna,  Budapest,  and 
Sofia,  permitted  himself  to  be  decorated  with  orders 
(except  in  Constantinople,  where  admittance  was  refused 
him),  and  always  spoke  for  the  whole  German  nation. 

now  can  a  man  accomplish  all  this  —  politics  and 
business  and  representation,  day  in,  day  out,  for  twelve 
or  fourteen  hours  a  day  every  day  ? 

I  shall  attempt  to  explain  the  riddle.  Do  you  hap- 
pen to  know  Georg  Kaiser's  "  Coral,"  a  play  given  by 
Reinhardt  last  winter?     It  is  the  story  of  a  man,  a 

145 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

multimillionaire  (which.  Paasche  has  not  yet  become), 
who  is  so  much  taken  up  with  social  and  professional 
duties  that  he  divides  his  ego  with  his  secretary  who 
carries  on  half  of  his  burdens  with  all  their  responsi- 
bilities and  obligations.  Herr  Paasche's  other  ego  was 
not  a  private  secretary,  but  contented  himself  with 
being  called  Syndikus.  Originally  he  was  a  clerk  in  the 
Austrian-Hungarian  consulate  at  Berlin,  where  he  had 
the  political  business  problems  to  look  after.  As  Herr 
Paasche's  other  self,  he  had  a  stately  income. 

This  gentleman  looked  after  Herr  Paasche's  affairs 
and  prepared  the  way  for  other  profitable  relations  or 
for  new  Board  memberships.  For  his  trouble  he  re- 
ceived cash  or  papers  —  for  each  separate  enterprise. 
When  Herr  Paasche  entered  a  new  Board  he  immedi- 
ately complained  of  overwork  and  his  other  self  took 
over  the  representation  as  far  as  possible. 

I  must  break  off  although  there  is  much  more  to  be 
said.  For  instance,  Herr  Paasche  was  interested  in  a 
publishing  concern  which  speculated  on  the  vanity  of 
its  subscribers  and  advertisers  —  but  we  will  be  silent. 
The  president  of  the  German  House  of  Representatives 
must  keep  up  appearances. 

He  retired  quickly  when  the  new  revolutionary  Ger- 
many stepped  forward  and  announced  through  the  press 
that  he  would  not  accept  a  candidacy  for  the  National 
Assembly. 


XIX 

HANS  DELBEUCK 

A  conservative  but  not  a  Heydebrand  type  was  Hans 
Delbriick,  a  Kultur-conservative,  combining  all  the  ele- 
ments of  Prussia  —  that  is,  of  liberal  Prussia  as  she  was 
in  the  period  between  the  battles  of  Jena  and  Leipzig; 
a  politician  ever  striving  after  the  truth  but  unable  to 
rise  above  his  nature,  whose  conservatism  was  like  a 
magnet  ever  pulling  his  thoughts  back  from  their  high- 
est flights.  He  was  a  prisoner  within  himself.  He 
wavered  between  two  generations;  hesitated  on  the 
bridge  between  the  old  and  the  new  Prussia ;  like  Lot's 
wife  he  could  not  resist  glancing  backward.  lie  wanted 
to  cheer  up  those  remaining  behind  and  hold  back  those 
who  were  pressing  forward;  his  lively  temperament 
drew  him  on  with  those  at  the  front,  but  critical  reason 
always  pulled  the  check-rein  in  time. 

This  was  the  tiny,  bearded,  Professor  Hans  Delbriick, 
just  seventy  years  old,  historian  at  the  University  of 
Berlin.  The  name  Delbriick  often  appears  on  the  pages 
of  Prussian  history  during  the  last  century.  Most  of 
the  Delbriicks  were  persons  above  the  average  —  Ber- 
thold,  Rudolf,  Clemens.  Berthold,  the  father,  who  was 
judge  of  the  court  of  appeals  in  Greifswald,  made  little 
impression  upon  the  children  because  of  his  early  death. 

147 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

It  was  the  mother  who  gave  most  to  the  children  intel- 
lectually. She  was  the  daughter  of  the  philosopher, 
von  Hennig,  who  once  worked  on  the  theory  of  colors 
with  Goethe  and  was  later  Hegel's  most  fluent  apostle. 
He  enjoyed  much  mental  stimulation  within  profes- 
sorial circles  in  Greifswald,  even  as  a  student.  The 
scholars  lived  wholly  in  the  atmosphere  prepared  by 
Goethe  and  Hegel;  there  were  but  a  few  who  allowed 
the  cool  draft  of  stormy,  young,  literary  Germany  — 
Heine,  Borne,  Gutzkow,  Freytag —  to  reach  this  still 
corner. 

Delbriick  wanted  to  become  a  teacher  at  first,  but  a 
friend  of  his  mother's,  the  historian  Karl  von  Noorden, 
pointed  out  another  way.  Instead  of  taking  his  exami- 
nations at  Greifswald  he  went  to  Bonn  and  entered 
Sybel's  school.  He  worked  his  way  through  tediously 
on  contributions  from  two  uncles,  and  then  took  up  an 
academic  career.  A  thousand  hindrances  made  the  road 
difficult.  For  five  years  he  served  the  Crown  Prince 
Friedrich  as  tutor  of  the  young  Prince  "Waldemar.  In 
1881  he  became  lecturer  at  the  University  of  Berlin.  He 
waited  fifteen  years  for  a  post  as  professor.  This  was 
in  1896  and  Delbriick  was  forty-eight  years  of  age.  It 
was  bitter  for  a  scholar  who  had  long  since  made  a  repu- 
tation through  his  publications. 

During  the  war  I  went  to  Skierniwice  where  once 
three  Kaisers  met  in  the  gleaming  white  hunting  lodge; 

148 


hans  delbruce: 

where  Bismarck,  with.  Giers  and  Kalnoky,  laid  down 
Europe's  program  for  a  decade.  I  was  guest  of  the  dis- 
trict leader,  a  conservative  Reichstag  representative. 
The  Count,  Major  of  the  Brown  Hussars,  was  a  splen- 
did example  of  jovial  Junker  with  his  patriarchal  im- 
pudence. We  were  sitting  with  cigars  and  cognac  when 
he  surprised  me  by  taking  a  blue  volume  from  the  writ- 
ing table,  with  the  remark :  "  Look  here,  this  has  been 
my  reading-matter  for  years."  It  was  the  Preussisches 
Jahrbuch,  started  by  Treitschke,  now  published  by 
Delbriick  after  forty  years.  To  see  a  genuine  Prussian 
Junker  diligently  studying  politics  was  a  great  sur- 
prise. I  believed  Delbriick  to  be  thrown  out  altogether 
from  these  circles  —  Delbriick  who  had  sat  on  the 
benches  of  the  Free  Conservatives !  He  still  had  credit 
with  the  Plight  it  seemed !  Although  he  had  always  been 
opposed  to  discriminating  laws  against  the  Danes,  the 
Poles,  and  Alsatians,  although  it  was  he  who  unmasked 
the  shyness  of  the  landed  property  owner  in  regard  to 
taxes,  although  he  was  a  Bethmann-Hollweg  man  dur- 
ing the  war  and  a  bitter  opponent  of  the  Alldeutschers 
(Pan-German)  there  must  have  been  something  in  this 
little  political  professor  to  attract  the  stiffest  Conserva- 
tive. Probably  this  attraction  was  Prussian  militarism. 
What  had  he  to  do  with  militarism  ?  Surely  he  was 
Lieutenant  of  the  reserves  during  the  war  of  1870—71; 
everybody  was  in  arms  at  that  time.     It  was  nothing 

149 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

extraordinary.  But  his  special  subject  was  the  histoiy 
of  war.  It  was  here  that  he  did  something  extraordi- 
nary. He  went  hack  into  antiquity  and  proved  step 
by  step,  from  the  Persian  wars,  the  transmission  of  the 
art  of  war  and  army  formations.  Here  was  much  that 
was  not  understood,  much  that  was  legendary,  and 
there  was  no  one  to  show  him  the  path  out  of  this 
wilderness.  His  fundamental  work  was  the  Gneisenau 
biography.  In  this  work  he  treats  of  strategy  and 
methods  then  employed  to  defeat  the  enemy.  Erom 
his  History  of  the  Art  of  War,  Schlieffen  got  his  idea 
for  the  battle  of  Cannae. 

His  military  articles  in  the  Preussische  Jalirbilclier 
on  different  phases  of  the  late  war  are  most  enjoyable. 
Erom  month  to  month  the  military  events  are  analyzed 
in  clear  language  and  dignified  consequence.  The 
political  street  of  knowledge  was  not  so  broad  and 
smooth  for  him.  For  example,  when  one  reads  his  book 
War  and  Politics,  one  stumbles  upon  many  mistakes 
and  misses  the  sure  hand  that  is  necessary  to  guide  one 
out  of  the  political  chaos  of  the  day. 

Although  he  fought  for  equal  suffrage  he  cannot 
free  himself  of  the  old,  Liberal-Conservative,  Prussian 
narrowness  of  the  days  following  1848.  But  I  respect 
him  as  teacher  and  politician,  for  his  writings  and  his 
personality.  And  I  love  Hans  Delbruck's  tempera- 
ment and  admire  his  courage. 


XX 

THEOBALD  VON  BETHMANN-HOLLWEG 

The  publications  from  the  Bavarian  archives,  on  the 
question  of  who  is  to  blame  for  the  war  loosed  von 
Bethmann-Hollweg's  tongue.  He  sought  to  justify  his 
policy  and  suggested  an  investigation  by  the  Supreme 
Court.  It  was  a  confession  of  his  weakness.  The  events 
of  that  time  were  too  much  for  him. 

Who  and  what  was  Herr  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  ? 
lie  had  almost  been  forgotten  in  the  confusion  of  politi- 
cal events  when  suddenly  his  long,  thin  form  rose  up 
again  from  oblivion. 

We  have  to  think  hard  to  get  back  to  the  days 
of  Prussian  national  authority.  When  Bethmann- 
Hollweg  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Government  by 
the  Kaiser  in  1909,  ho  had  to  wade  through  a  mountain 
of  political  debris  to  reach  the  Chancellor's  palace. 
The  authority  of  the  Government,  which  had  just  sol- 
emnly declared  it  would  not  accept  the  finance  reform 
without  an  inheritance  tax,  was  badly  undermined. 
It  had  to  bend  under  the  Caudinian  yoke  of  the 
blue-black  (Conservative  and  Catholic  center)  block. 
Prince  Bulow's  parliamentary  working  majority  had 
gone  to  pieces,  the  Center  again  set  the  pace  and  a 

151 


LEADERS  OE  JESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

savage  party  battle  began.  A  financial  reform  that 
made  deep  wounds  in  their  economical  life  was  forced 
upon  the  German  people.  Trade,  industries,  and  busi- 
ness concerns  formed  a  league  against  the  one-sided, 
selfish,  economical  tendencies  of  the  agrarian  Conserva- 
tives. Never  was  Germany  in  the  throes  of  such  an 
inner  convulsion  as  then. 

Herr  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  warned  the  representa- 
tives to  creative  work  in  his  first  speech.  No  nation,  he 
said,  could  hold  its  breath  forever  while  sensational 
party  quarrels  were  being  hashed  over.  That  would 
kill  the  nerve  of  any  nation;  her  faith  in  herself  and 
her  position  in  the  world  would  be  ruined.  A  nation 
like  Germany  who  won  her  place  in  the  world  by  sober 
work,  could  keep  it  only  by  continuing  to  work.  He  was 
convinced  that  there  was  a  necessity  for  creation  laid 
upon  every  member  of  the  nation,  and  that  this  necessity 
would  outlive  the  present  state  of  confusion. 

But  his  warning  fell  on  deaf  ears.  The  inner  battle 
went  on  until  1912,  when  the  new  Reichstag  elec- 
tion opened  the  valve.  The  whole  Left  was  now  so 
strong  that  they  formed  the  majority,  if  it  were  but  a 
small  one.  In  those  two  and  a  half  years  of  battle 
Bethmann-Hollweg  had  tried  to  accomplish  a  number 
of  urgent  tasks.  He  slowly  approached  the  Center 
which  had  declared  him  to  be  but  a  "temporary  Chan- 
cellor."   The  battle  of  the  Vatican  against  the  liberal 

152 


THEOBALD  VOX  BETHMA3"tf-H0LWEG 

tendency  creeping  into  the  church,  the  oath  laid  upon 
numerous  scientific  men,  which  was  an  infringement 
upon  the  rights  of  the  state,  created  so  much  disturb- 
ance among  the  people  that  the  Government  had  to  in- 
terfere in  some  way.  Bethmann-IIollweg  approached 
the  task  gingerly.  The  ghost  of  a  Kultur  war  haunted 
him  but  still  he  tried  to  come  to  a  compromise  with  the 
Vatican.  He  also  took  the  first  hesitating  steps  toward 
a  discussion  of  the  Jesuit  problem.  His  restraint  in  the 
Ostmark  question,  his  reluctance  to  use  the  expropria- 
tion law,  his  attempt  to  reconcile  the  Polish  nobility 
after  a  decade  of  estrangement  by  the  arrangement  of 
the  Kaiser's  visit  to  Posen,  and  the  liberal  constitution 
he  gave  Alsace-Lorraine,  strengthened  his  position  with 
the  Center  from  day  to  day.  This  policy  of  compromise 
brought  him  gradually  into  conflict  with  the  Right ;  his 
attitude  toward  foreign  affairs  did  not  serve  to  better 
this  condition.  One  thing  after  another  came  to  widen 
the  cleft  between  them :  Alsace-Lorraine,  the  Prussian 
franchise  problem,  the  Zabern  affairs,  and  the  profiteers' 
tax  as  a  substitute  for  the  inheritance  tax.  In  spite  of 
it  all,  he  took  great  pains  to  give  the  preference  to  this 
circle  in  every  way  possible. 

At  last  the  Left  began  to  mistrust  him.  The  election 
reform  he  contemplated  introducing  served  to  deepen 
the  chasm  now  formed  between  him  and  the  Liberals. 
The  words  he  used  in  introducing  the  bill  made  an 

153 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

understanding  almost  impossible.  He  said  one's  whole 
life  consisted  of  dependencies,  dependencies  erected  by 
God.  But  Bethmann  did  not  give  up  trying  to  come 
to  an  understanding  with  them,  and  indeed  he  suc- 
ceeded shortly  before  the  war  in  bringing  the  Left,  and 
even  the  Social  Democrats,  to  his  standard,  although 
when  the  second  military  bill  was  introduced  they 
rejected  the  army  bill  and  profiteer  tax.  This  made 
a  great  impression  on  foreign  countries. 

In  the  meantime  Bethman-Hollweg's  foreign  policy 
was  conducted  with  ever-increasing  difficulties.  When 
he  entered  the  Chancellor's  office  he  was  new  to  diplo- 
macy. Instinctively  he  was  led  by  the  thought  of 
gradually  loosening  the  meshes  of  the  English-French- 
Russian  net  cast  around  Germany.  As  in  Bismarck's 
case,  the  coalition  nightmare  caused  him  many  a  sleep- 
less night.  He  began  with  Russia,  with  Sassanow.  The 
Potsdam  interview  and  agreement  in  regard  to  Persia 
and  the  Bagdad  railroad  seemed  to  create  a  better  feeling. 
The  attempt  to  come  to  an  understanding  with  England 
also  seemed  promising  in  the  beginning.  But  Haldane's 
visit  to  Berlin  led  to  a  new  dissonance;  von  Tirpitz  was 
the  cause.  New  threads  were  spun,  new  prospects 
opened  up.  The  Crown  Prince  was  discontented  but 
Bethmann-Hollweg  went  his  own  way.  Then  the  storm 
broke;  war  could  no  longer  be  avoided.  The  Kaiser's 
generals  dictated  with  the  sword  and  tore  up  the  treaty 

154 


THEOBALD  VOX  BETHMANN-HOLWEG 

with.  Belgium.  Bethmann-Hollweg  protested  —  but 
remained  in  office  preaching  to  the  Reichstag  that  the 
wrong  should  he  righted. 

During  the  war  he  felt  the  approaching  calamity 
more  and  more  clearly  from  day  to  day  and  warned 
them  to  come  to  terms.  In  1915  he  declared  himself 
agreeable  to  a  League  of  Nations,  but  the  Alldeutschers 
the  Conservatives  despised  him  as  a  weakling  and 
idealist.  Then  came  the  agitation  for  an  unrestricted 
submarine  warfare.  Pamphlets  shot  up  like  mushrooms 
over  night;  a  Pan-German  secret  court-martial  was 
held  and  the  verdict  was:  "We've  got  to  get  rid 
of  that  fellow !  "  But  Bethmann-Hollweg  held  out 
against  them.  Tirpitz  was  removed  from  office  and 
yet  —  one  day  Helfferich  left  him  in  the  lurch  and  got 
up  new  statistics  which  made  a  submarine  war  appear 
imperative.  Bethmann-Hollweg  was  voted  down  at 
the  conference  at  Headquarters.  The  U-boat  war  was 
proclaimed  in  the  midst  of  America's  endeavor  to  bring 
about  peace.  But  he  remained  in  office  although  the 
Alldeutschers  were  better  pleased  than  before. 

He  won  the  Social  Democrats  to  his  side  in  this  war 
for  the  existence  of  the  nation  —  they  gave  up  their 
class  standpoint,  the  Independent  organizations  placed 
themselves  at  the  service  of  the  Government,  and  the 
German  people  presented  a  united  front  to  the  foe. 
But  Bethmann  did  not  know  how  to  take  advantage 

155 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

of  this  situation.  True,  he  had  learned  something 
from  this  inner  rejuvenation  he  was  always  talking 
about.  He  became  absorbed  in  the  ideals  of  democracy, 
but  his  thoughts  never  developed  into  deeds.  The  only 
practical  thing  he  did  was,  here  and  there,  to  clear  the 
way  for  proficiency;  he  did  not  hesitate  to  put  even 
organized  Social  Democrats  in  office  if  they  could  fill 
the  job.  Otherwise  he  contented  himself  with  repeal- 
ing the  laws  in  regard  to  foreign  languages  and  youths, 
also  the  Jesuit  law.  His  Easter  message  and  promise 
of  equal  suffrage  were  the  last  attempts  to  soothe  the 
spirits  of  democracy.  Schmoller  once  called  him  a 
modern  Fabius  Cunctator.  He  was  filled  with  the  best 
intentions,  he  saw  the  necessity  of  reorganizing  Prus- 
sia's antiquated  system,  but  never  found  the  way  to 
deeds.  He  overrated  the  opposition  and  fell  at  last 
because  his  indecisive  policy  could  go  no  further.  He 
was  forsaken  by  the  Center  he  had  made  love  to  for  so 
long;  the  National  Liberals  followed  and  he  lost  his 
parliamentary  support. 

Curiously  enough  he  could  be  decisive  when  it  came 
to  getting  rid  of  persons  who  might  be  dangerous  to 
him.  This  was  the  case  in  the  change  of  ministers 
which  cost  Baron  von  Rheinbaben  his  place,  and  in  the 
quarrel  with  Tirpitz.  Personal  relations  were  an  im- 
portant factor  in  his  political  calculus.  Not  once,  but 
many  times,  he  sent  confidential  persons  —  principally 

156 


THEOBALD  VON  BETHMAOT-HOLWEG- 

scientific  men  —  to  announce  from  the  lecture  platform 
what  he  later  intended  to  do.     He  also  used  the  press 

—  and  used  it  very  cleverly. 

There  were  many  surprises  concealed  in  this  man 
who  had  a  purely  bureaucratic  career  behind  him.  He 
began  as  Landrat  in  ]STiederbarnim,  became  president 
of  Potsdam,  and  then  Minister  of  the  Interior,  finally 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  successor  to  Count  Posadow- 
sky.  Bethmann-Hollweg  liked  to  emphasize  the  ethical 
streak  in  his  policy.  People  said  he  had  a  liking  for 
philosophy;  in  his  idle  hours  he  studied  Kant  and 
Schopenhauer  and  the  music  of  Brahms.  One  still 
remembers  the  stir  his  words  created  when  he  once  said : 
"  Our  philosophy  has  slowly  recognized  Kant,  that 
great,  mental  aristocrat !  " 

Thib  was  Bethmann's  philosophy,  but  it  was  not  suf- 
ficient to  have  willed  the  best  —  in  politics  one  must 
have  also  accomplished  the  best.    He  began  too  late  and 

—  fell.  He  had  won  over  the  Kaiser  entirely  for  his 
reform  ideas;  he  had  caused  the  resignation  of  oppos- 
ing ministers,  but  when  von  Stein,  Minister  of  War, 
declared  himself  an  opponent  of  equal  suffrage,  Luden- 
dorff  declared  that  without  von  Stein  he  would  not  be 
responsible  for  the  command  of  the  army. 

The  catchword  became:     Bethmann  or  Ludendorff  ? 
And  Bethmann  fell  when  he  thought  himself  the 
securest. 


XXI 

MINNA  CAUER 

Among  those  publishers  who  are  known  by  their 
works  are  a  few  women.  They  are  all  militant  natures 
who  take  everything  with  deadly  seriousness  and  who 
have  not  yet  acquired  a  rational  polish.  Men  who 
write  for  the  day  are  mostly  skeptics;  they  gradually 
realize  that  their  wares  are  not  worth  much  more  than 
the  paper  they  are  written  on.  But  women  who  have 
once  entered  the  public  arena  are  to  the  last  breath 
mental  Amazons  who  plunge  into  the  battle  anew  each 
day  with  a  shout  of  victory  on  their  lips.  And  they 
are  right  —  those  who  conquer  life  anew  hour  for  hour, 
those  who  enter  into  the  thing  with  their  whole  souls, 
who  give  their  very  existence  for  the  principle.  The 
others  follow,  drawn  by  suggestion. 

One  can  count  on  one's  fingers  the  women  in  public 
life  who  have  anything  worth  saying,  although  two  gen- 
erations have  participated  in  the  feminist  movement. 
One  of  the  best,  Lady  Braun,  a  female  Vulcan,  has  gone 
to  rest  after  decades  of  activity.  In  the  midst  of  her 
most  intensive  work  a  remorseless  God  called  her  home. 
A  part  of  the  way  she  wandered  with  Minna  Cauer. 

158 


MINNA  CATTER 

In  the  90's,  when  German  intelligence  was  enthusiastic 
over  the  socialist  movement,  she  married  the  scholar, 
von  Gyzicki,  and  together  they  published  Ethische 
Kultur,  at  a  time  when  idealists  were  listening  to  the 
words  of  Moritz  von  Egidy :  "  Religion  is  no  longer  a 
thing  apart;  our  life  itself  is  religion." 

Minna  Cauer  is  already  in  her  seventy-eighth  year. 
A  veteran  ?  She  would  laugh  at  you  if  you  approached 
her  respectfully  as  if  she  were  a  walking  arterio- 
sclerosis. She  is  young  mentally  and  physically;  in- 
tellectually as  nimble  as  a  weasel.  Where  the  battle 
rages  wildest  there  you  will  find  her.  Her  life  has 
been  like  a  movie-film  —  ever  changing  and  shimmer- 
ing, much  sorrow  but  also  much  success.  She  is  always 
driven  forward  by  the  ideals,  freedom,  social  and 
political  equality  for  women. 

Freedom !  That  reminds  one  of  her  first  revolu- 
tionary prank.  She  was  seven  years  old  when  the 
unrest  of  1848  crept  into  quiet  little  Freyenstein  in 
Ostpriegnitz,  where  her  father,  Herr  Schaller,  was 
pastor.  At  the  head  of  a  troop  of  boys  and  girls  she 
marched  through  the  streets  singing  revolutionary 
songs  and  waving  flags.  Of  course  father  scolded,  but 
Minna  kept  on  treading  the  path  of  freedom.  For  a 
time  she  did  as  other  girls  did  —  entered  a  boarding 
school  and  when  she  was  twenty-one  she  bestowed  her 
hand  upon  a  young  doctor,  August  Latzel.     This  mar- 

159 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

riage  lasted  four  years,  during  which  time  she  lost  a 
little  son  of  two  years  and  her  husband,  who  came  home 
ill  from  the  campaign  against  Denmark  in  1864,  to  die 
soon  after  —  the  fate  of  many  a  woman  —  a  widow  still 
young  and  fresh,  good  for  a  lifetime,  and  yet  discour- 
aged and  uprooted.  She  went  to  Paris  as  a  governess, 
saw  all  the  great  men  at  the  height  of  their  glory,  Napo- 
leon and  Eugenie  —  all  the  intoxication  of  the  second 
Empire.  Months  later  when  the  war  cast  her  hack  upon 
German  shores,  this  seemed  like  a  dream.  The  splen- 
did, glittering,  Napoleonic  soap-bubble  had  burst. 

Minna  married  again.  She  accepted  a  position  in 
Hamm  as  teacher  in  a  girls'  school,  and  married  the 
director  of  the  Gymnasium,  a  widower  with  five  chil- 
dren, a  historian  of  some  little  repute,  Professor 
Eduard  Cauer.  They  went  to  Danzig  and  then  to  Ber- 
lin. Kaiser  Friedrich  (then  Crown  Prince)  and  his 
wife  interested  themselves  in  the  young  couple.  Often 
they  exchanged  opinions.  After  twelve  years  Minna 
lost  her  second  husband.  Again  her  life  must  be  wholly 
rearranged.  Hesitatingly  she  began  to  enter  public 
life.  From  long  association  with  her  husband  she  be- 
came interested  in  history.  After  his  death,  in  looking 
over  his  diary  she  found  this  passage :  "  The  history 
of  woman  is  not  yet  written;  it  must  be  written  some- 
time but  it  will  require  the  devotion  of  a  lifetime." 
Was  fate  pointing  out  the  way  ? 

160 


MIXXA  CAUER 

Frau  Cauer  wrote  little  historical  sketches  but  this 
was  only  a  side  line.  The  present  took  hold  of  her 
and  the  past  sank  into  oblivion.  A  few  liberal  men 
who  had  founded  a  German  Academic  Verein  now  pro- 
posed a  woman's  organization.  After  long  persuasion 
Minna  Cauer  took  over  the  leadership  in  1888.  At  the 
first  general  meeting  she  announced  that  it  was  not  to 
be  a  club  which  was  to  be  contented  with  mere  existing ; 
no,  it  should  spread  the  women's  movement  far  and 
wide  and  prepare  the  soil  for  its  reception.  At  the 
same  time  she  was  mapping  out  her  own  career  to  which 
she  remained  true  the  rest  of  her  life.  Together  with 
Lily  von  Gyzicki  and  Adele  Gerhard,  she  sent  the  first 
petition  to  the  Reichstag  asking  for  the  right  to  or- 
ganize women's  political  vereins.  "  Three  women 
citizens  "  mocked  the  Social  Democrats.  Only  in  1908 
was  this  wish  fulfilled. 

In  the  meantime  she  continued  her  work,  devoting 
herself  to  the  interests  of  shop-girls;  she  founded  an 
Aid  Society  and  took  part  in  founding  the  League  of 
Women's  Clubs.  It  is  impossible  to  mention  all  of  her 
activities  in  this  short  sketch.  For  ten  years  she  had 
devoted  herself  almost  exclusively  to  the  battle  for  equal 
suffrage,  equal  political  rights. 

Iler  thoughts  have  been  published  since  1895  in  the 
Frauenhewegung.  Numberless  are  her  articles,  politi- 
cal, social,  and  cultural.    There  is  nothing  dry  or  theo- 

161 


LEADERS  OF  YESTEEDAY  AATD  TO-DAY 

retical  about  them;  they  are  living  and  scintillating, 
they  flash  into  the  mind  of  the  reader.  She  will  hear 
nothing  of  Society  Welfare  organizations.  That  is 
play  —  work  is  the  need  of  the  hour,  daily,  hard,  social 
work.  "When  the  war  broke  out  she  was  one  of  the 
first  to  lend  her  aid  to  the  Red  Cross.  For  a  year  and 
a  half  she  did  her  duty  in  Berlin;  saw  behind  the 
scenes  more  than  she  wished  to  see ;  observed  with  dis- 
favor the  chase  after  Orders  and  other  marks  of  distinc- 
tion. When  they  tried  to  catch  her  with  one  of  these 
"  ribbons  "  she  left  and  again  devoted  herself  to  political 
things. 

She  draws  a  large  line  between  herself  and  the 
"  charitable  lady."  Once  she  wrote :  "  There  is  a  deep 
cleft  in  the  world  of  women  to-day.  An  ocean  of  opin- 
ions separates  us  from  those  who  are  rooted  in  aged  con- 
ventionalities. There  are  new  problems  to  solve  and 
they  are  not  easy  ones.  To  be  sure,  it  is  more  comfort- 
able to  cling  to  that  which  is  old  and  adore  it.  Carlyle 
speaks  of  the  old  clothes  of  history ;  we  do  not  feel  our- 
selves called  upon  either  to  wear  them  or  to  patch 
them." 

The  battle  for  equal  suffrage  in  Prussia  gave  new 
impetus  to  her  efforts.  Now  it  was  everything  or  noth- 
ing. She  appeared  again  and  again  on  the  platform, 
spoke  to  thousands;  forged  the  women's  organizations 
into  a  solid  phalanx  for  the  approaching  battle,  sent  a 

162 


MINNA  CATTER 

deputation  of  women  to  ask  the  intentions  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Reichstag.  When  the  great  election  reform 
was  finally  put  through,  there  was  nothing  said  about 
the  women.  They  were  glad  to  get  equal  suffrage  for 
the  men.  But  even  this  defeat  did  not  discourage 
Minna  Cauer ;  she  went  on  speaking,  writing,  agitating, 
with  her  heart's  blood  —  this  youthful  woman  of 
seventy-seven.  The  revolution  brought  her  the  fruits 
of  victory.    A  woman's  life  was  rounded  out. 


XXII 

PAUL  LENSCH 

Forty-five  years  ago  his  parents  baptized  him  with 
the  name  of  Paul.  His  mother  insisted  on  it;  all 
mothers  have  a  fine  instinct,  and  besides,  her  own  name 
was  Pauline.  She  foresaw  what  would  become  of  the 
wild,  fidgety  Paul  and  she  was  not  mistaken. 

Paul  was  born  at  Potsdam  in  the  shadow  of  the  great 
Friedrich,  three  years  after  the  Franco-Prussian  War. 
Wilhelm  I  and  Friedrich  III,  Bismarck  and  Moltke, 
heroes  whose  laurel  wreaths  were  just  beginning  to  fade, 
glided  past  his  cradle. 

Prussian-German  history  was  hammered  into  him  at 
the  Havel  gymnasium  while  drums  were  beating  out- 
side on  the  parade  grounds  where  the  soldiers  were 
being  drilled.  In  this  way  he  received  a  firm,  concrete 
basis  to  work  on,  so  to  speak.  When  this  was  over  he 
entered  the  university.  In  Berlin  and  Strassburg  he 
studied  political  economy.  Hegel,  Marx,  and  Lassalle, 
Wagner,  Schmoller,  and  Brentano  fascinated  him; 
greedily  he  devoured  the  teachings  of  that  great  social- 
istic church-father,  Kautsky.  Although  he  served  in 
the  fourth  regiment  of  the  Guards  for  a  year,  there  was 

164 


PAUL  LENSCH 

no  stopping  him  on  the  way  to  socialism  now.  In  1900 
he  was  promoted  to  Doctor  of  Political  Science  at 
Strassburg;  immediately  afterwards  he  became  editor 
of  the  Freie  Presse  fur  Elsass-Lothringen. 

As  an  author  he  is  hesitating,  doctrinaire,  but  not 
class-conscious.  Trips  abroad  widened  his  horizon. 
Finally  he  landed  in  Leipzig,  where  there  seemed  a 
chance  of  making  a  living.  Rosa  Luxemburg  had  beck- 
oned ;  Rosa,  the  morning  star  of  the  party,  editor  of  the 
Leipziger  Volkszeitung.  Lensch  did  not  let  himself  be 
asked  twice;  as  early  as  1902  we  saw  him  buzzing 
around  the  editor's  room.  Here  at  the  cradle  of  Ger- 
man socialism  he  became  more  radical  than  ever.  Franz 
Mehring  wrote  the  much  admired  historical  articles  for 
the  paper,  although  he  was  forbidden  to  enter  the 
locality  —  no  one  could  get  along  with  him,  not  even 
Kautsky.  Jaeckh  took  Rosa's  place  and  published 
those  traditional  sow-herd  articles  which  were  to  dis- 
tinguish the  paper  from  that  time  on.  Lensch  was  in 
his  element  —  when  Mehring  somewhat  sarcastically 
reproached  him  with  being  lazy  he  gradually  began  to 
liven  up  his  articles.  Very  soon  there  was  no  one  more 
radical,  more  savage,  more  insubordinate  than  he.  The 
poor  bourgeois  were  mauled,  beaten,  struck  dead  with 
ink;  with  haughty  mien  he  planted  his  class-conscious, 
revolutionary  foot  on  the  necks  of  the  reactionary 
masses.     The  proletariat  was  pictured  with  an  aureole 

165 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

around  its  head.  He  spoke  in  this  fashion  to  hundreds 
of  public  gatherings,  and  the  resolutions  he  proposed 
were  dipped  in  the  gore  of  the  red  Internationale. 

But  the  poor  weavers  of  Saxony  and  Thiiringen  were 
still  some  distance  from  him  in  spite  of  his  swash- 
buckling radicalism.  For  no  matter  how  wildly  he  ges- 
ticulated he  could  not  deny  the  academic  streak  in  his 
veins.  In  spite  of  this  the  Saxon  district  Reichenbach- 
Auerbach  sent  him  to  the  Reichstag.  He  did  not  make 
much  of  a  stir  there.  When  he  made  his  first  speech 
some  wag  called  from  the  reporters'  bench :  "At  last 
we  have  a  rhyme  for  Mensch  (people),  Mr.  Lensch." 
He  was  not  a  big  number  on  party  days  either;  was 
known  only  as  Mrs.  Rosa's  cavalier,  whose  teachings  he 
raved  over.  "With  his  slouch  Panama  hat  perched  cockily 
on  one  side,  his  mustache  curled  up  on  the  ends,  gen- 
erally wearing  a  gray  suit  —  gray  like  his  theory  — 
he  was  the  cavalier  of  the  party.  He  usually  led  a  dog 
on  a  strap  and  loved  to  quote  from  books  —  in  these 
respects  he  resembled  a  converted  Billow.  This  radical 
Billow  was  an  abomination  to  Frank,  Landsberg,  and 
Bernstein;  they  ostentatiously  avoided  his  society. 
They  didn't  even  speak  in  passing.  In  1908  he  became 
editor  of  the  Leipziger  VoTkszeitung. 

This  was  Paul  Lensch  before  the  war.  In  class- 
consciousness  he  was  not  to  be  out-trumped  even  by 
Liebknecht  or  his  consorts.    The  mills  of  the  gods  grind 

166 


PAUL  LEXSCH 

slowly  we  all  know  —  his  hour  came  somewhat  sud- 
denly. The  God  of  the  middle  class  gathered  up  their 
prodigal  son,  led  him  back  to  the  paths  of  virtue  and 
respect  for  those  who  govern  here  as  well  as  in  heaven, 
back  to  love  of  his  country  and  the  Fatherland  party. 
At  first  he  flared  up  mightily  when  war  broke  out  and 
spluttered  with  the  party  against  war  credit.  When 
everyone  else  was  in  the  first  stages  of  war  intoxication 
he  was  steadfast  and  unflinching.  But  somewhere, 
somehow,  came  the  illumination.  Youth  and  Potsdam 
traditions  knocked  at  his  heart ;  the  scales  fell  from  his 
eyes.  Quickly  he  changed  his  shirt  —  pulled  off  the 
international  one  and  donned  the  national.  From  this 
hour  on  he  was  the  Social  Imperialist  of  the  party  who 
was  not  even  averse  to  annexation  provided  it  were 
baptized  with  a  less  embarrassing  name. 

Of  course  he  could  not  stay  on  the  Leipziger  Volhs- 
zeitung  any  longer.  Together  with  Heilmann  he 
founded  a  new  mouthpiece,  Die  Glocke.  ISTaturally  he 
tried  to  justify  this  change  of  heart.  His  new  creed 
was  laid  down  in  a  book  called  Social  Democracy :  Hl 
End  and  its  Prosperity,  published  by  S.  Ilirzcl  in  Leip- 
zig. The  reasoning  procedure  was  certainly  not  easy 
to  follow,  but  a  student  of  Hegel,  who  can  play  with 
dialectics  as  with  a  billiard  ball,  can  accomplish  even 
this. 

Thus  spoke  Lensch :    "  The  principle  of  the  organiza- 

167 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 

tion,  which,  in  the  hands  of  public  authorities  means  as 
much  as  guardianship,  police  surveillance,  and  submis- 
sion on  the  part  of  the  subject,  will  then  become  the 
dialectic  opposite  —  will  be  the  lever  of  self-government 
and  discipline  as  soon  as  it  becomes  a  part  of  the  masses 
themselves."  He  closes  this  play  of  words  with :  "At 
the  head  of  the  German  revolution  stands  Bethmann- 
Eollweg." 

We  others,  who  are  not  so  schooled  in  dialectics,  have 
not  yet  been  able  to  see  it  that  way ;  on  the  contrary  we 
have  found  public  authority  mightier  than  ever  during 
the  war,  and  submission  on  the  part  of  the  subject  has 
already  entered  the  blood  of  nurslings  on  account  of 
bread,  milk,  and  meat  cards. 

Herr  Lensch's  mental  pendulum  has  swung  over  to 
the  other  side  and  he  has  had  a  good  many  credulous 
followers.  Miracles  happen  even  to-day;  if  you  be- 
lieved they  happened  only  in  biblical  times  just  take  a 
look  at  Dr.  Solf's  exclusive  and  distinguished  Ger- 
man Society  of  191Jf-,  and  there  you  will  find  Herr 
Lensch  comfortably  ensconced  in  a  leather  chair  every 
evening. 

In  one  hour  Saul  became  Paul. 


xxm 

ERNST  GRAF  ZU  REVENTLOW 

Xot  all  Pan-Germans  are  alike  —  of  course  not. 
There  are  a  thousand  variations  ranging  from  three 
octaves  in  the  bass  to  three  in  the  treble,  to  express  it 
musically.  The  strongest  note  is  struck  by  Count  Ernst 
zu  Keventlow,  who  speaks  daily  to  the  public  through 
the  medium  of  the  Deutsche  Tageszeitung.  He  is  a 
remarkable  creature.  There  is  not  a  human  instinct  he 
does  not  touch  upon  —  not  a  contradiction  in  which  he 
does  not  entangle  himself.  A  smooth  dialectic  is  all 
that  saves  him. 

This  sophist  once  took  unto  himself  a  French  woman 
for  a  wife;  for  her  sake  he  retired  from  the  army. 
The  companion  he  won  at  such  heavy  price  stands  by 
his  side  to-day.  They  went  to  Central  America  and 
tried  ranching  but  it  was  not  a  success.  Disappointed, 
they  turned  back  to  the  Fatherland.  That  was  almost 
twenty  years  ago.  Then  he  tried  his  hand  at  writing. 
!We  first  meet  him  in  Uherall,  an  illustrated  army  and 
navy  paper.  Then  he  became  marine  specialist  for  the 
Berliner  Tagehlatt,  and  some  time  afterwards  he  landed 
on    the    Tagliche    Rundschau,    where    his    first    anti- 

169 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  A^D  TO-DAY 

Semitic  utterances  appear.  But  he  was  still  a  liberal- 
minded  man,  although  not  attached  to  any  particular 
party  program.  He  attacked  Tirpitz,  who  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  navy  bureau  —  even  the  Kaiser  was  not 
immune.  About  1907  a  booklet  appeared  entitled,  The 
Kaiser  and  the  Byzantine.  His  Majesty  surrounded 
himself  only  with  flatterers,  he  wrote,  and  related  a 
meriy  episode.  On  a  hunting  trip  to  England,  when 
Wilhelm  II  bagged  a  large  number  of  animals,  a  chubby- 
cheeked  English  country  gentleman  sarcastically  ex- 
claimed: "Almost  superhuman."  lie  also  criticized 
Prince  Heinrich  in  the  Tagliche  Rundschau  because 
he  drilled  his  sailors  on  horseback  and  performed  other 
comical  feats  unbecoming  an  Admiral  of  the  !N"avy. 
Imagine  a  galloping  mounted  navy ! 

But  no  one  rapped  his  fingers  for  his  naughtiness, 
and  many  giggled  to  themselves  over  this  noble  enfant 
terrible.  But  one  day  his  foot  slipped  —  he  criticized 
the  Potsdam  cavalry  —  said  they  didn't  do  as  much 
as  the  ordinary  infantry.  This  was  too  much.  They 
haled  him  before  a  court  of  honor.  There  was  a  pain- 
ful process  in  which  all  the  rest  of  his  literary  sins  were 
taken  into  account.  The  verdict  was :  Guilty;  the  prose- 
cution recommended  depriving  him  of  his  title  and  uni- 
form. This  was  disgrace  and  shame  for  an  officer.  But 
the  sentence  was  somewhat  milder;  he  was  allowed  to 
retain  his  title  but  was  retired  from  service. 

170 


ERNST  GRAF  ZU  REVENTLOW 

This  was  his  day  of  enlightenment;  the  purging  of 
the  hero  began.  If  you  like  we  can  name  the  very  day 
of  his  change  of  spirit  —  the  14th  of  March,  1908. 
He  saw  the  world  and  all  things  therein  with  new  eyes. 
He  began  to  applaud  Tirpitz  whom  he  had  formerly  so 
frequently  attacked.  Thereupon  Tirpitz  smilingly  de- 
clared that  Reventlow  was  his  favorite  literary  mariner. 
One  door  after  another  was  opened  to  him  in  the  Navy 
Department.  Every  hour  they  put  interesting  material 
into  his  hands;  he  needed  only  to  utter  the  wish.  In 
the  meantime,  through  Dr.  Rosicke's  friendly  interfer- 
ence, he  went  over  to  the  Deutsche  Tageszeitung.  He 
liked  this  journalistic,  demagogic  platform  much 
better  —  it  suited  his  nature.  With  all  their  Teutonic 
propensities,  they  handled  politics  with  kid  gloves  on 
in  the  Zimmerstrasse.  Here,  on  the  Deutsche  Tages- 
zeitung, he  could  handle  them  with  a  dung  fork  if  occa- 
sion demanded,  without  insulting  his  readers'  nostrils 
with  the  stirred-up  odor.  At  first  he  confined  him- 
self to  marine  politics,  but  his  was  a  commanding  na- 
ture. He  soon  became  irritating  to  the  comfortable 
Ilerr  Oertel,  the  Christian  standard  bearer  of  the  Land- 
owners' League  and  editor-in-chief  of  the  Deutsche 
Tageszeitung.  They  jarred  on  each  other's  nerves.  But 
one  day  they  carried  Ilerr  Oertal's  remains  out  to  God's 
acre,  and  Reventlow's  power  was  thenceforth  undisputed. 
Mornings  and  evenings  he  wrote  a  leading  article;  navy 

171 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

problems  formed  but  one  chapter.  He  wrote  on  borne 
and  foreign  politics,  cultural  questions,  anti-Semitism, 
in  sbort,  everything ;  and  he  will  keep  on  writing  morn- 
ing, noon,  and  night.  The  language  of  these  rabbit-like 
productions  is  fearful.  There  are  sentences  whose  back- 
bone is  broken  a  half  dozen  times;  there  are  miracles 
of  style  compared  with  which  the  excrescences  of  the 
baroque  period  are  mere  trifles;  there  is  a  confusion 
of  contradictions,  scurrilous  notions,  and  psychological 
impossibilities.  Thoughts  revolve  like  arabesques 
around  a  few  old  prejudices,  idiosyncrasies,  and  ab- 
stract conceptions;  an  eternal  monotony,  covered  by  a 
scholarly  dialectic  which  appears  charming  to  some. 
His  book,  Germany's  Foreign  Policy,  1888-1914,  had 
its  good  qualities  in  spite  of  its  untrustworthiness. 

The  things  he  fought  for  were  but  a  heap  of  false 
conceptions.  In  his  battle  for  the  increase  of  the  navy, 
he  occupied  himself  with  the  submarine  question  even 
before  the  war.  In  1908  he  hurled  reproaches  at  Tir- 
pitz  for  not  competing  with  England  in  the  building  of 
submarines.  "  It  is  a  shame,"  he  wrote,  "  that  Ger- 
many has  but  one  such  boat."  Afterwards,  during  the 
war,  when  he  had  begun  to  protect  Herr  von  Tirpitz,  he 
declared  all  at  once:  "It  is  a  mistake  to  speak  of 
shirking  submarine  construction."  His  predictions 
were  no  less  contradictory  than  the  use  of  the  weapon 
itself.     In  1909,  he  did  not  value  the  submarine  as  a 

172 


EKNTST  GRAF  ZU  REVENTLOW 

weapon  very  highly.  "  The  German  torpedo  boat,"  he 
wrote,  "  can  only  penetrate  the  broad  girdle  of  Eng- 
land's system  of  defense  if  she  is  protected.  Eor  this 
purpose  our  whole  fleet  is  necessary  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances. The  feasibility  of  such  warfare  rests  upon 
our  fleet."  It  was  just  the  other  way  about  as  we  have 
seen.  The  fleet  stayed  at  home  and  the  accomplishments 
of  the  torpedo  and  U-boats  exceeded  the  expectations  of 
the  most  fantastic-minded  at  first.  But  enough  of  the 
marine  question. 

He  blustered  around  still  more  dangerously  in  for- 
eign politics  where  he  broke  many  a  window  with  his 
rhetorical  stones.  He  had  no  consideration  whatever, 
no  feeling  of  responsibility,  no  psychological  restraints. 
After  the  storm  broke  over  Europe  he  began  to  work 
for  the  most  extensive  annexations:  Belgium,  espe- 
cially the  coast  of  Flanders,  parts  of  France,  Calais 
and  other  coast  towns,  Courland,  Lithuania;  and  mil- 
liards of  money  and  raw  stuffs  as  indemnities  were 
absolutely  necessary  for  Germany's  existence.  Who- 
ever dared  to  differ  with  him  —  and  there  were  a  few 
such  reflective  persons  —  was  immediately  denounced 
as  unpatriotic.  He  barked  continually  at  Bethmann- 
Hollweg,s  heels,  like  a  yapping  terrier.  He  fairly 
rained  suspicions  and  libels  upon  leading  statesmen, 
even  went  so  far  as  to  threaten  them.  "  Petty,  shilly- 
shally, spineless,"  were  some  of  his  tenderest  epithets 

173 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

for  the  Chancellor  during  the  discussion  of  the  Ameri- 
can question. 

Herr  Reventlow  had  never  believed  in  an  American 
declaration  of  war;  he  had  always  written  that  Ger- 
many should  not  let  herself  be  bluffed  by  America. 
When  it  came  to  war  he  laughed  contemptuously  at  the 
seriousness  with  which  certain  circles  regarded  the  af- 
fair. To  hear  him  talk  one  would  believe  America  had 
no  political  influence  whatever  with  the  Entente,  and 
that  she  could  not  land  three  soldiers  on  the  European 
continent.  This  was  entirely  false,  as  Germany  learned 
to  her  sorrow.  Things  might  have  gone  otherwise  had 
she  not  had  America  for  an  enemy.  This  saber-rattling 
patriotism  which  was  always  awaiting  the  moment  when 
England  would  be  crushed,  created  some  disorder  in  the 
Count's  ethics. 

He  called  the  Zeppelin  attacks  on  England  a  bene- 
ficial compensation  for  the  German  answer  to  the  Pope's 
note.  "  We  cannot  imagine  a  more  joyful  accompani- 
ment." Another  time  he  sought  to  reconcile  hate  and 
revenge  with  the  teachings  of  Christianity. 

This  was  Count  Reventlow.  In  those  sultry  August 
and  September  days  the  foreign  press  called  the  Ger- 
mans barbarians  and  cited  Nietzsche,  Treitschke,  and 
Bernhardi  as  the  intellectual  instigators  of  the  war.  If 
you  mix  all  three  together  and  sift  out  all  that  is  clever 
or  intellectually  fine,  the  remainder  will  be  the  stuff  of 

174 


ERNST  GKAF  ZU  KEVEKTLOW 

which  Count  Reventlow  is  made.  A  bull-headed  man 
whom  life  had  thrown  around  recklessly;  a  man  of  no 
preconceived  ideas,  politically  frivolous,  an  uncon- 
strained and  unrestrained  being  who  appeals  to  instinct 
more  than  reason  —  put  such  a  man  in  a  responsible 
position  and  you  may  see  for  yourself  whither  it  must 
lead. 


xxrv 

GEORG  MICHAELIS 

I  open  my  political  diary  at  the  date,  March  7,  1917. 
A  little  sensation  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  The 
new  Prussian  Food  Commissioner,  a  tiny  dried-up 
man,  with  a  face  like  a  parrot,  introduced  himself 
to  the  Reichstag  in  a  somewhat  unusual  manner.  Venus 
sprung  from  the  sea  foam,  Michaelis  from  the  dust  of 
legal  documents.  This  little  fellow  dived  up  all  of  a 
sudden  from  behind  the  speaker's  desk,  and  began  play- 
ing Napoleon.  Fearfully  he  swashed  the  air  with  the 
sword  of  his  spirit.  "  The  office  laid  upon  me  is  born 
of  the  heavy  troubles  inflicted  upon  us."  He  then  un- 
rolled the  problem  of  who  is  to  blame,  slashed  right  and 
left,  flayed  the  Junkers  and  agrarians  for  feeding  their 
live  stock  instead  of  delivering  the  grain  to  the  magis- 
trate. The  eyes  of  the  Conservatives  opened  wider  and 
wider.  When  he  heard  the  grumbling  and  growling  go- 
ing on  beneath  him  he  played  his  last  trump :  "  Who 
is  to  gainsay  me !  I  would  like  to  know  who  will  suc- 
ceed in  hindering  me  if  I  do  my  duty  in  this  point !  n 
Oi,  oi,  they  thought,  this  little  man  slashes  right  well 
with  his  insufficient  strength  and  weak  voice.    Comedy 

175 


GEOKG  HICHAELIS 

or  tragedy  ?  But  lie  continues :  "  I  will  take  over  no 
office  that  is  like  a  sword  without  sharpness,  nor  will 
I  keep  a  position  which  is  apt  to  dull  my  own  sword. 
I  will  fight  on  with  the  help  of  Hirn  who  watches  over 
the  German  people."  There  was  nothing  lacking  but, 
"  Here  I  am,  Lord.  I  could  not  do  otherwise,  God  help 
me,  Amen." 

On  the  way  home  I  spoke  with  several  gentlemen  of 
the  Left  who  had  been  impressed  by  the  tiny  man  with 
the  Bible  and  the  catechism  on  the  end  of  his  tongue. 
"  He's  a  fine  little  fellow,  all  the  same,"  said  one.  "  He 
got  the  ISTational  Granary  Department  in  working  order, 
put  our  bread  supply  on  a  firm  footing,  and  he  is  not 
afraid  to  tell  the  Conservatives  what  he  thinks." 

"  Do  you  know  more  about  him  ?  " 

"  A  little.  He  comes  from  a  large  Silesian  family. 
His  father  was  district  judge.  He  is  the  third  of  seven 
children.  Georg  himself  has  six.  His  oldest,  a  mere 
lad,  fell  in  the  war.  For  a  time  Michaelis  was  director 
of  the  school  and  church  department  of  the  Arnsberg 
Government.  Later  he  went  to  Breslau  as  Councillor 
of  the  Presidium ;  did  all  he  could  to  relieve  the  misery 
at  the  time  of  the  flood  along  the  Oder  in  1903.  Then 
he  entered  the  Ministry  of  Finance,  became  under-sec- 
retary,  and  during  the  war  worked  at  the  head  of  the 
grain  department.  He  spent  four  years  teaching  in 
Tokio   at   the   school    of   German   law    and   political 

177 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

science.  He  is  sixty  years  old,  and  that  is  about  all  I 
know  about  him." 

March  27,  19 17.  To-day  I  received  a  hasty  invita- 
tion to  a  conference  with  Dr.  Georg  Michaelis  in  the 
Ministry  of  Finance.  I  went  this  afternoon.  The 
house  on  Kupfergraben  could  stand  a  little  paint.  It 
is  nothing  but  angular  little  office  rooms.  It  has  a 
military  atmosphere  and  needs  nothing  but  a  sentry- 
box  outside  and  a  corporal  within.  A  long  corridor 
leads  to  a  small  conference  room  where  there  is  a  long, 
green  table  and  an  official  corona.  The  Commissioner 
arrived,  everybody  bowed.  He  seated  himself,  pulled 
out  a  gold  watch,  opened  it  and  laid  it  on  the  desk  in 
front  of  him.  Then  he  began  to  speak  dryly,  slowly, 
and  in  a  business-like  manner.  Once  he  allowed  his 
confidence  in  Hindenburg  and  Ludendorfr"  to  peep 
through.  As  we  went  down  the  street  we  agreed :  "  A 
sort  of  upper  Councillor  who  would  like  to  play  Caesar." 

July  13,  1917.  The  Chancellor  crisis  is  in  full 
swing.  Bethmann-Hollweg  is  not  to  be  held  back  since 
the  "  Stein  "  (stone)  has  been  removed  from  his  path. 
The  highest  military  authorities,  the  leading  Conserva- 
tives, the  most  influential  Junkers,  could  not  shake  the 
Kaiser's  faith  in  him.  "  Stein  or  me."  "  To  be  or  not 
to  be,"  was  now  the  war-cry,  and  Bethmann  fell.  Many 
a  name  was  mentioned  as  his  successor ;  just  for  a  joke 
I  will  tell  you  that  Michaelis'  name  was  also  mentioned. 

178 


GEORG  MICHAELIS 

We  laughed  about  it  in  our  wine-room,  but  a  politician 
said  we  should  see. 

July  14,  1917.  It  came  like  a  bomb:  Michaelis — 
Chancellor !  No  one  was  even  asked.  ISTot  a  soul  knew 
it  beforehand.  Like  a  thunderbolt  it  fell  out  of  a  clear 
sky.  A  nice  kettle  of  fish  for  Germany!  Even  the 
Kaiser  didn't  know  him.  He  had  been  recommended 
to  the  Empress  as  especially  pious.  And  just  think  of 
what  he  had  accomplished!  He  had  apportioned  our 
daily  bread  for  three  years ;  why  should  he  not  be  able 
to  treat  the  people  well  who  had  grown  up  on  his  bread  ? 
Someone  from  the  Chancellery  told  me  that  when  he  tele- 
phoned the  news  to  his  wife  she  merely  said,  "  You're 
crazy !  "  Whether  or  not  he  echoed  a  pious  Amen  to 
this  I  do  not  know.  The  press  did  not  greet  him  so 
badly.  The  Tdgliche  Rundschau  proudly  called  him 
"  Our  Chancellor,"  for  they  had  recommended  him. 
Only  the  Left  wing  grumbled  because  he  had  been 
foisted  upon  them  in  this  manner. 

July  18,  1917.  He  is  a  funny  bird,  this  Michaelis. 
He  confesses  he  has  not  had  any  more  political  experi- 
ence than  the  average  politician.  As  head  of  the  Chan- 
celry  he  appoints  a  certain  director  of  the  Fat  Depart- 
ment, a  Landrat  von  Graevenitz.  Butter,  oil,  and  wagon 
grease  spread  themselves  around  in  Bismarck's  rooms. 

July  19,  1917.  Michaelis  makes  his  great  speech  in 
the  Reichstag  after  the  parliamentary,  ministerial,  and 

179 


LEADERS  OF.  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

military  conference  in  Herr  Helfferich's  garden  is 
ended.  He  wanted  to  acknowledge  his  desire  for  a 
peace  without  annexation  or  compensation.  Wanted  to 
—  but  all  at  once  in  the  middle  of  his  peroration  he 
added,  half-audibly,  this  little  sentence :  "  These  aims 
can  be  accomplished  within  the  compass  of  the  resolu- 
tions —  as  I  understand  them." 

July  20,  1917.  We  didn't  see  the  little  back  door 
that  Michaelis  —  his  eyes  turned  toward  Heaven  — 
suddenly  opened.  Now  with  the  printed  speech  before 
us,  and  the  words,  "  as  I  understand  them,"  staring  us 
in  the  face,  we  began  to  scent  trouble.  In  a  trice  he 
had  discredited  the  Government  at  home  and  abroad. 
One  does  not  get  very  far  with  such  dishonorable 
methods. 

July  30,  1917.  At  last  it  is  possible  to  see  what 
effect  his  Reichstag  speech  made  on  the  outer  world. 
A  catastrophe!  They  mistrust  Germany  altogether. 
"  German  faith,  German  wine,  German  song."  Herr 
Michaelis  gambled  away  our  faith,  as  a  Christian 
teetotaler  or  better,  as  a  friend  of  moderation,  he  de- 
spises German  wine,  and  as  for  song,  he  knows  only 
the  choral  book. 

August  6,  1917.  It  is  amusing  to  see  how  Herr 
Michaelis  enjoys  his  revenge.  All  the  gentlemen  who 
were  his  superiors  or  who  had  made  him  uncomfortable 
in  one  way  or  another  were  now,  one  after  another 

180 


GEORG  MICHAELIS 

strangled  with  the  silken  string,  "  canned "  in  other 
words.  His  chief  but  yesterday,  Dr.  Lentze,  was  the 
first  to  go.  Herr  Batocki,  president  of  the  Food  Com- 
mission, was  sent  to  Konigsberg,  although  he  had  hoped 
to  be  sent  only  as  far  as  Leipzigerplatz.  It  was  not  a 
pleasant  aspect. 

August  20,  1917.  To-day  the  chief  of  the  Chancelry 
plunged  excitedly  toward  the  gentlemen  of  the  press 
and  begged  them  for  God's  sake  not  to  mention  what 
had  happened.  It  was  a  misunderstanding,  a  mistake  — ■ 
we  all  knew  the  Michaelis  melody.  He  had  gone  back 
on  the  aims  of  the  commission  and  announced  casually 
that  he  had  never  approved  of  their  purposes.  This 
time  the  Left  tripped  him  up  and  he  was  summoned  to 
a  painful  examination;  he  stammered  a  few  embar- 
rassed words  and  had  to  apologize  to  the  Reichstag. 
They  said  he  will  only  last  until  holiday  time. 

September  4,  1917.  It  wasn't  a  bad  idea  of 
Michaelis'  to  call  in  the  council  of  seven  to  discuss  the 
answer  to  the  Pope's  note.  The  Reichstag  was  polit- 
ically satisfied. 

September  6,  1917.  Michaelis  has  performed  the 
most  unbelievable  trick.  lie  spoke  of  a  mutiny  which 
had  been  discovered  and  put  down,  accusing  the  Inde- 
pendent Socialists  of  taking  part  in  the  complot.  There 
was  tremendous  excitement.  The  enemy  could  laugh  and 
triumph  once  more.    Will  he  stay  at  his  post  any  longer  ? 

181 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

October  10,  1917.  He  tried  to  make  a  goat  of  Herr 
von  Capelle,  father  of  the  childish  attack  on  the  Left. 
But  it  didn't  work  this  time.  It  was  a  test  of  strength, 
he  had  to  go. 

October  11,  1917.  The  Reichstag  sent  a  deputation 
to  convince  him  how  very  badly  the  nation  did  not 
need  him.    He  became  hard  of  hearing. 

October  12,  1917.  He  still  considered  himself  indis- 
pensable. At  least  he  would  have  liked  to  retain  the 
leadership  of  the  Prussian  ministry.  Count  Hertling 
refused  —  either  everything  or  nothing. 

November  2,  1917.    Michaelis  submitted,  thank  God. 

July  11,  1918.  Herr  Michaelis  has  been  president  in 
Stettin  for  a  long  time.  Every  morning  he  says  his 
prayers  and  feels  himself  quite  happy  as  the  subordinate 
of  those  he  once  elevated.  The  "  last  shall  be  first  and 
the  first  shall  be  last " —  he  has  had  a  taste  of  both. 
Like  the  fairy  tale  of  Haroun-al  Raschid,  who  put  a 
beggar  on  the  throne  for  a  day,  this  joke  cost  Germany 
two  years  of  war  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  victims. 
The  oriental  fairy  tale  was  less  expensive. 

August  30,  1918.  In  his  election  speech  Conrad 
Haussmann  spoke  the  right  word :  "  I  accuse  the 
former  Imperial  Chancellor,  Michaelis,  with  not  having 
followed  the  policy  laid  down  by  Prince  Max  von 
Baden  —  he  sowed  the  seeds  of  mistrust  against  us, 
and  doubt  as  to  our  intentions." 


XXY 

'  GUSTAV  STRESEMANN 

As  Ernst  Basserman,  bead  of  the  National  Liberal 
party,  lay  upon  bis  sick  bed  watching  the  Eeaper 
slowly  drawing  nigh,  three  pretenders  to  his  throne 
were  making  ready  to  step  into  bis  boots:  Friedberg, 
Schiffer,  and  Stresemann.  Each  one  felt  himself  a  secret 
crown  prince.  But  Fate  was  cunning;  before  there  was 
time  for  a  rivalry  to  develop,  she  found  a  different 
post  for  all  three.  Friedberg,  former  professor  of  politi- 
cal science,  was  appointed  to  the  vice-presidency  of  the 
Ministry  by  Count  Hertling;  Schiffer  received  an  hon- 
orable post  in  the  treasury ;  and  Stresemann  was  chosen 
by  the  party  as  chairman  of  the  Keichstag  faction  — 
Bassermann's  old  place.  Bassermann  was  at  heart  a  lib- 
eral man,  but  hundreds  of  compromises  with  the  con- 
servatives and  the  dictation  of  big  industrialists  had 
made  him  politically  and  bodily  irritable.  The  national 
idealistic  professors,  Gneist  and  Sybel,  once  set  the 
pace  for  the  party;  under  Bassermann  it  passed 
through  the  agrarian-capitalistic  crisis.  When  one  could 
go  no  further  toward  the  Right, —  when,  as  Dernburg 
said,  one  bumped  against  the  wall, —  he  rooted  out  the 

183 


LEADERS  OF  YESTEEDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

agrarian  sore  and  turned  his  eyes  toward  the  Left.  The 
capitalists  whose  money  helped  to  keep  the  treasury  full, 
began  to  raise  their  voices  in  warning  to  their  unfaith- 
ful servant.  Frictions  arose.  Under  the  leadership  of 
Mr.  Euhrmann,  the  old  National  Liberal  national  or- 
ganization revived,  and  a  noisy  party  battle  ensued. 
Young  Liberals,  old  Liberals,  and  the  Basserman 
National  Liberal  guard  swung  their  swords  against  one 
another  and  the  battle  raged  in  the  columns  of  the 
press.  Only  the  outbreak  of  war  put  an  end  to  this 
ruinous  strife  for  awhile.  But  it  broke  out  again  when 
the  capitalists,  at  first  secretly,  then  openly,  manifested 
their  annexationist  aims;  when  they  fought  against 
every  political  change  in  Prussian  Germany;  when 
they  drew  one  paper  after  the  other  into  their  services, 
especially  the  Berliner  Neuesten  Nachrichten  and  the 
Deutscher  Kurier;  and  lastly  when  their  relations  to 
the  Alldeutschen  League  grew  warmer  and  warmer. 
This  was  the  blow  that  killed  Bassermann.  Gustav 
Stresemann,  who  grew  up  in  industrial  circles  either  as 
general  secretary  or  syndikus,  took  over  the  leadership 
of  the  party. 

Did  the  big  industrialists  come  off  victors?  Who- 
ever judges  so  superficially  does  not  know  the  psychol- 
ogy of  the  National  Liberal  party.  In  the  breast  of 
every  National  Liberalist  live  two,  three,  and  some- 
times four  souls.     Sometimes  there  is  a  transmigration 

184 


GUSTAV  STRESEMANN 

of  these  souls.  At  bottom  everyone  is  national.  Many 
a  compromise  is  covered  by  this  uncertain  and  much 
meaning  word.  Secondly,  the  National  Liberal  is  lib- 
eral. At  least  that  is  what  the  program  says.  But 
there  is  many  a  hitch  in  the  practice  of  this  sentiment. 
Richthofen,  Riesser,  Bohme,  Junck,  Schonaich-Caro- 
lath  are  really  liberal  and  not  mere  pretenders.  But 
Fuhrmann,  Ilirsch,  and  consorts  —  what  have  they  to 
do  with  liberalism  ?  If  one  travels  in  the  provinces  one 
will  find  that  the  national  and  liberal  men  are  the 
teachers,  district  judges,  and  small  industrialists.  Be- 
yond this  border  line  begin  economic  interests  which 
seek  to  influence  the  party.  Dr.  Stresemann  is  the  per- 
fect type  of  factory  representative,  a  general  secretary, 
of  which  the  National  Liberal  party  has  more  than 
any  other.  But  he  is  only  a  stepmother  to  really  large 
industries.  He  was  born  in  Berlin  forty  years  ago, 
studied  political  science  and  history  in  Berlin  and 
Leipzig  and  began  a  technical  career  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three.  He  began  as  assistant  in  the  German 
Chocolate  Manufacturers'  Union.  A  year  later  he 
helped  to  found  the  Saxon  Manufacturers'  Union  and 
became  their  recorder  without  giving  up  his  other  post. 
Other  corporations  soon  sought  his  services  and  his  in- 
come increased  accordingly.  As  wholesale  recorder  he 
possessed  some  little  influence.  In  the  intervals  he 
wrote  on  the  most  impossible  subjects:    shops,  bottled 

185 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

beer  trade,  landworkers'  organization,  and  factory  do- 
ings. As  a  side  issue  he  published  the  Sdchsische  Indus- 
trie. Always  working  and  striving,  his  strong  consti- 
tution made  it  possible  for  him  to  accomplish  a  full 
day's  work  with  ease.  He  spoke  as  he  wrote,  indefatig- 
ably.  Naturally  he  wished  to  enter  the  Reichstag. 
In  1907  he  was  sent  to  the  Reichstag  from  Annaberg. 
Skilled  in  business,  and  with  far-reaching  personal  re- 
lations, he  was  soon  respected  in  the  faction,  although 
he  did  not  speak  all  too  frequently  at  first.  But  he 
spoke  often  and  willingly  to  public  gatherings  —  liked 
to  speak  on  public  occasions  such  as  national  holidays 
and  Bismarck  celebrations.  He  spoke  in  a  strong  voice 
with  a  slight,  provincial  accent ;  people  liked  to  listen  to 
him.  He  seemed  to  have  acquired  a  National  Liberal 
spirit  with  his  mother's  milk. 

And  yet  this  was  not  the  case.  When  quite  a  young 
man  he  had  been  very  socialistic.  Seventeen  years  ago 
he  went  to  Frankfurt-am-Main  as  a  delegate  of  Dres- 
den's National  Socialists.  It  was  here  that  Friedrich 
Naumann  condemned  the  Richter  and  Bassermann 
type  of  liberalism.  "  If  you  put  all  the  National  Lib- 
eral representatives  together  from  Paasche  to  Basser- 
taann,"  Naumann  said,  "and  try  to  find  one  constructive 
economic  idea  among  them,  you  will  find  nothing  but 
chaos."  Among  those  who  applauded  enthusiastically 
was  Dr.  Stresemann.     When  the  Hamburg  group  dis- 

186 


GUSTAV  STRESEMAKN" 

cussed  passing  a  resolution  against  alcoholism  lie  told 
them  he  was  convinced  laws  would  serve  no  purpose. 
"  If  we  put  war  against  alcoholism  on  our  program," 
he  said,  "  then  we  shall  have  to  proclaim  a  war  for  vege- 
tarianism." The  broad-shouldered  man  shuddered  at 
such  a  step  —  he  liked  his  food. 

Another  moment  from  these  party  days  where  we 
find  Brentano,  Sohm,  Damaschke,  and  Weinhausen 
together,  Stresemann,  who  now  wrote  for  the  Tagliche 
Rundschau,  brought  a  choleric  accusation  against  this 
paper :  "  The  National  Socialist  party  protest  against 
the  hateful  and  unjust  personal  attacks  against  their 
leaders,  which  the  Tagliche  Rundschau  prints  in  her  col- 
umns. We  expect  a  feeling  of  honor  to  prevent  our  com- 
rades from  having  anything  to  do  with  such  a  paper." 

That  was  seventeen  years  ago.  Since  then  he  had 
forgotten  and  forgiven.  The  next  step  was  Young  Lib- 
eralism. He  lost  in  the  next  election  in  1912,  and  also 
the  one  after  that.  Then  he  gave  up  the  Saxon-Thu- 
ringia  districts  and  went  over  to  Hanover,  the  home  of 
National  Liberalism,  where  he  won.  His  place  in  the 
Reichstag  was  still  warm,  and  as  Herr  Bassermann 
retired  more  and  more  on  account  of  ill-health,  he  soon 
became  the  second  ornament  on  the  list  of  speakers  un- 
til he  finally  became  leader  of  the  faction.  His  paper 
was  the  Deutsche  Stimmen,  the  leading  National  Lib- 
eral weekly.    He  wrote  the  leading  editorial,  the  polit- 

187 


LEADERS  OE  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

ical  review,  which  he  handled  delicately,  signing  his 
articles  with  a  triangle. 

Dr.  Stresemann  is  not  original ;  he  is  not  prominent 
in  the  sense  of  Richter,  Bennigsen,  Windhorst  or  Bebel, 
but  he  is  clever,  skillful  and  active  —  virtues  which  the 
party  needed  most  at  that  time.  Large  ideas  would 
have  probably  been  the  end  of  the  party,  which  was 
not  very  steady.  The  battle  for  predominance  went  on. 
Would  he  meet  this  dragon  with  a  flaming  sword? 
Sometimes  it  seemed  so.  During  the  war  he  made  ar- 
rangements for  political  changes  in  the  party,  declared 
equal  suffrage  to  be  absolutely  necessary  in  Prussia,  and 
Was  not  against  a  parliamentary  system. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  helped  to  bring  about  Beth- 
mann-ITollweg's  fall,  smoothed  the  way  for  such  a  man 
as  Michaelis,  and  at  every  opportunity  preached  a  peace 
of  might  with  annexations  and  compensation.  In  order 
not  to  lose  his  connections  with  the  Left  entirely,  he 
took  part  in  the  conference  of  the  majority,  but  only  for 
a  short  time.  The  continual  cry  of  the  annexationists 
and  the  capitalists  scared  him,  and  the  strike  movement 
in  January,  1918,  gave  him  the  excuse  for  breaking  off 
his  relations  with  the  Social  Democrats.  He  was  glad 
to  be  out  of  it,  to  be  rid  of  all  responsibility,  and  waited 
for  the  miracle  which  would  make  the  National  Liberal 
policy  synonymous  with  a  governmental  policy.  But 
it  happened  otherwise.     The  great  change  came,  Count 

188 


GUSTAV  STRESEMANN 

Ilertling  fell,  Prince  Max  von  Baden  took  his  place, 
and  the  parliamentary  system  came  over  night.  The 
leaders  of  the  majority  took  over  the  Government.  Un- 
der Stresemann's  leadership  the  party  held  sittings 
almost  every  morning  and  afternoon  in  the  days  of  Sep- 
tember and  October,  1918.  Why?  They  were  dis- 
cussing the  "situation."  In  reality  they  were  waiting  for 
the  Government  and  the  majority  to  take  pity  on  them 
and  invite  them  to  take  part  in  the  program.  Strese- 
mann  was  baptized  the  "  political  tree  frog  "  in  those 
days  because  he  jumped  whichever  way  the  wind  blew, 
thereby  happily  losing  his  contact  on  all  sides.  The 
majority  parties  were  hard  of  hearing;  democracy  did 
not  wish  to  burden  itself  with  such  slippery  fish  as  the 
Stresemann  outfit.  Finally,  Herr  von  Payer,  the  Vice- 
Chancellor,  uttered  the  wish  that  the  National  Liberals 
might  be  allowed  to  participate.  "  But,"  he  said,  "  the 
National  Liberals  must  bend  their  necks  under  the  yoke 
of  our  program.  The  National  Liberalists  and  Herr 
Stresemann  did  so.  They  scraped  and  kotowed.  In 
one  hour  the  savage  annexationists  became  the  most 
convinced  adherents  of  a  peace  without  annexation,  joy- 
ful champions  of  the  Reichstag  peace  resolutions  of  July 
19,  1917,  true  friends  of  the  League  of  Nations  idea. 
Thank  God,  Herr  Stresemann  had  found  his  bearings 
once  more.    The  turning  point  must  come  soon. 

Things  went  on  in  this  fashion  for  about  six  weeks ; 

189 


LEADERS  OF,  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

then  came  the  revolution  that  washed  them  all  over- 
board. The  National  Liberal  party  went  to  pieces.  The 
newly-arisen  German  Democratic  party  threatened  to 
swallow  them  all.  They  politely  rejected  such  com- 
promised, political  turncoats  as  Herr  Stresemann 
and  company.  Stresemann,  full  of  injured  vanity, 
gathered  up  the  last  remnants  of  the  National  Liberal 
party,  plastered  them  together,  and  anointed  the  whole 
of  the  new  German  People's  party.  He  had  someone 
behind  him  again,  if  it  were  only  capitalists  and  old 
National  Liberalists.  For  a  change  he  stood  first  on 
one  foot  and  then  on  the  other,  in  order  not  to  lose  his 
connections. 


XXYI 

LOTHAR  PERSIUS 

"  I  do  not  understand  the  man !  Grown  gray  in  the 
service  as  sea  captain,  and  now  —  pacifist !  ' 

"  Yes,  captain,  but  have  yon  ever  tried  to  understand 
the  psychology  of  this  man  ?  Of  course,  those  who  have 
nothing  to  do  hut  command  are  not  in  the  habit  of  pay- 
ing much  attention  to  psychology.  That  is  why  officers 
and  school  directors  are  such  poor  psychologists." 

"  Is  that  so !  I  dispute  that  seriously.  We  who  have 
to  deal  with  people  from  every  station  in  life  get  a  deep 
look  into  the  souls  of  mankind  every  day.  You  see, 
Persius  is  angered  and  embittered  because  he  received 
the  blue  envelope  just  before  he  should  have  become 
Rear  Admiral.  That  is  my  psychological  analysis.  "No 
need  for  subtleties  where  everything  is  as  plain  as  the 
nose  on  your  face." 

"You  simplify  the  matter  greatly,  captain.  You 
command  and  I  have  but  to  obey.  But  as  I  am  not  your 
subordinate  I  reserve  the  right  to  contradict  you." 

Let  us  calmly  and  coolly  dissect  this  man. 

He  comes  from  an  old  and  very  respected  family  to 
whom  Prussian  tradition  is  a  sort  of  Kultur-con- 
servatism,  bourgeois,  Potsdam  atmosphere.  A  number 
of  our  officers  and  officials  have  come  from  this  family. 

191 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 

His  grandfather  was  a  royal  architect  and  curator  of 
artistic  monuments.  The  oldest  of  his  four  sons  he- 
came  acting  Privy  Councillor  with  the  title  of  Excel- 
lence, and  was  president  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Berlin  for  twenty-six  years.  For  a  time  he  was  member 
of  the  Reichstag.  Fundamentally  a  thoroughly  con- 
servative man  but  liberal  in  his  manners.  He  did  not 
entrench  himself  behind  documents  as  behind  a  Chinese 
wall,  and  he  had  understanding  for  all  that  was  human 
and  a  weakness  for  art.  The  knowledge  gained  in  a 
court  of  law  peeped  through  now  and  then.  For  in- 
stance, it  was  he  who  permitted  Gerhard  Ilauptmann's 
Weavers  to  be  performed  although  those  up  above 
wrinkled  their  brows  in  disapproval. 

This  was  Lothar  Persius'  father.  Lothar  inherited 
similar  traits  from  his  mother.  She  was  a  von  Zander, 
daughter  of  a  Geheimrat  and  niece  of  the  Chancellor 
von  Zander.  Wherever  you  look  you  see  officers  and 
officials  in  her  family.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  Lothar 
looks  the  typical,  clean-cut  Prussian  officer?  In  spite 
of  his  fifty-five  years  he  is  still  sinewy  and  supple. 

When  he  left  the  Friedrich-Wilhelm  gymnasium  in 
Berlin,  he  felt  a  call  to  the  navy.  "  You  can  become 
a  cavalry  officer  if  you  do  not  care  to  study  any  more, 
but  don't  go  to  sea,"  pleaded  his  mother.  In  those  days 
honorable  mothers  and  fathers  had  the  idea  that  only 
prodigal  sons  went  to  sea. 

192 


LOTHAR  PERSIUS 

But  he  got  his  way.  lie  came  into  the  world  at  the 
right  moment,  just  as  Germany  stretched  out  her  arms 
to  grasp  a  few  colonies.  As  naval  cadet,  he  sailed  around 
the  world  on  the  Elizabeth,  and  witnessed  the  founding 
of  the  colonies  in  Africa,  New  Guinea,  and  Polynesia. 
As  officer,  he  sailed  his  ship  in  the  Mediterranean,  to 
North  and  South  America,  and  witnessed  the  taking  of 
Manila  during  the  Spanish  war.  At  the  beginning  of 
this  century  he  was  first  officer  and  commander  of  the 
cruisers  Hansa  and  Seeadler  in  East  Asia  for  years. 

Up  to  this  time  the  course  of  his  life  ran  smoothly 
and  pleasantly.  Fate  seemed  only  to  show  her  sunny 
side.  When  he  had  to  do  battle  it  was  only  on  the  field 
of  sports.  How  he  could  trim  his  sails !  How  his  yacht 
flew  over  the  water  like  a  sea-gull,  bringing  him  one 
trophy  after  the  other:  silver  and  gold  cups,  writing 
sets,  and  so  on !  He  was  frequently  with  Prince  Hein- 
rich  and  His  Majesty.  The  Kaiser  once  smiled  pleas- 
antly when  Persius  said:  "Married  officers  are  only 
half-fighters.  They  are  always  thinking  of  wife  and 
children  which  makes  them  over-careful." 

The  first  conflict  came  in  East  Asia.  After  a  few 
literary  flights  on  the  sport  subjects,  Persius  began  to 
criticize  with  his  pen.  As  an  officer  he  wrote  under  a 
pseudonym.  The  Ostasiatische  Lloyd  published  several 
of  his  severely  critical  articles  on  the  military  coloniza- 
tion methods  in  Kiaochow.     The  author  became  known 

193 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

and  there  was  a  stir  up  above.  Once  more  he  made 
himself  objectionable.  His  superior  officers  asked  him 
to  make  a  report  demanding  more  table  money  for  offi- 
cers stationed  in  foreign  countries.  Persius,  however, 
was  of  another  opinion.  "  Table  money  is  already  more 
than  sufficient,"  he  wrote,  supporting  this  statement  by 
statistics  from  his  own  carefully  kept  accounts. 

He  was  finally  sent  to  Kiel  as  director  of  the  ammuni- 
tion depots  in  Dietrichsdorf  by  Kiel.  His  naval  career 
was  nearing  its  end.  In  October,  1908,  he  was  retired 
and  went  to  live  in  Berlin.  An  energetic  man  with 
wholly  unused  powers,  released  from  the  narrow  con- 
fines of  military  life,  he  sought  new  goals  and  new  aims 
in  life.  His  sphere  of  interest  was  not  small ;  yachting, 
belles-lettres,  music,  art,  naval  technic,  and  politics. 
The  papers  gladly  opened  their  columns  to  this  man  who 
had  much  specialized  knowledge  and  a  clever  pen. 

In  the  Jahrbiicher  filr  Armee  und  Marine  he  inves- 
tigated Herr  von  Tirpitz's  accomplishments  in  the  way 
of  ship-building,  and  came  to  no  favorable  conclusion. 
This  happened  during  his  stay  in  Kiel  and  soon  had  its 
consequences.  N"ow  that  he  was  free,  and  free  also  from 
party  prejudices,  he  began  to  write  for  the  Tagliche 
Rundschau,  the  Berliner  Neuesten  Nachrichten,  Deut- 
sche Zeitung,  and  the  red  Tag. 

In  all  his  articles  he  continually  pointed  out  Tir- 
pitz's mistaken  naval  policy.     Hermes,  former  editor- 

194 


LOTHAE  PERSIUS 

in-cliief  of  the  Kreuzzeitung,  begged  him  to  work  for 
his  paper  and  help  stem  the  disastrous  tide  of  Tirpitz's 
folly,  until  subscribers  and  supporters  of  Tirpitz's  pol- 
icy compelled  him  to  seek  another  editor  for  the  naval 
column.  For  a  time  Persius  wrote  the  naval  review 
for  the  red  Tag.  In  1912  the  Berliner  Tageblatt  offered 
him  the  proper  sounding  board  for  his  much  respected 
naval  criticism. 

Persius  belonged  to  the  Navy  Verein  for  a  few  years 
at  the  time  when  General  Keim  was  storming  against 
Tirpitz.  Keim  was  for  larger  guns,  more  U-boats, — 
in  short,  a  more  modern  equipment  of  the  navy.  After 
the  shock  of  Keim's  resignation,  when  Admirals  von 
Koester  and  Weber  took  over  the  Yerein,  it  soon  became 
manifest  they  were  only  tools  of  the  National  Naval 
Department.  The  cooperation  of  a  man  like  Persius 
was  no  longer  possible,  and  he  slowly  withdrew  from 
these  circles. 

It  was  not  entirely  differences  of  opinion  in  regard 
to  the  fleet  that  forced  him  to  resign;  he  began  to  see 
the  evil  effects  of  the  noisy  naval  propaganda.  He  who 
knew  England  and  the  English  so  well,  saw  that  this 
agitation  would  sooner  or  later  lead  to  war  with  that 
country.  So  he  became  pacifist  because  he  foresaw  the 
horrors  that  would  be  inflicted  upon  humanity  if  there 
were  not  some  steps  taken  toward  a  compromise.  He 
welcomed  the  English  proposition  for  a  "  Naval  Year  " 

195 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

and  fought  against  the  building  of  battleships  instead 
of  submarines,  hoping  to  avoid  rivalry  in  this  way. 
In  1912  he  wrote:  U-boat  an  die  Front!  which  at- 
tracted attention  in  all  circles.  Almost  everything  he 
prophesied  here  has  come  to  pass.  After  that  he  be- 
came more  and  more  pacific.  He  was  coworker  on 
the  Friedenswarte,  and  published  at  the  instigation  of 
Andrew  Carnegie  a  book  on  the  possibility  of  doing 
away  with  armament  rivalry.  His  numerous  articles 
in  the  Berliner  Tageblatt  enjoyed  especial  attention  and 
red  lead-penciling  in  the  censor  room  of  the  Naval 
Department. 

"  Good  gracious,  aren't  you  through  with  Persius, 
biography  yet  ? " 

"Almost,  Captain.  We  are  coming  to  the  end.  Are 
you  still  convinced  that  Captain  Persius  took  to  the 
pen  merely  because  he  was  angry  at  being  retired  ?  The 
fact  is  he  began  to  write  while  still  an  active  officer. 
And  the  war  has  proved  that  he  was  right  in  suggesting 
the  building  of  submarines,  in  contrast  to  Tirpitz,  who 
would  hear  nothing  of  those  '  horrible  U-boats  '  at  first. 
Afterwards  when  he  was  forced  to  accept  this  policy, 
he  posed  as  the  U-boat  hero.  He  who  follows  a 
naval  policy  so  unswervingly  and  consecutively  as  Per- 
sius has  done,  is  surely  actuated  by  more  than  a  personal 
grudge." 


196 


LOTHAK  PERSIUS 


.. 


But  you  owe  me  an  answer  to  one  question,  and 
that  is:   How  is  lie  to  be  politically  denned?  " 

"  That  is  not  easy  to  say.  He  belongs  among  those 
who  feel  aristocratic,  but  who  think  democratically,  who 
must  think  this  way  because  their  reason  compels  them 
to.  No  doubt  this  is  the  cause  of  inner  conflicts,  but 
the  mental  aristocrat  conquers  because  uncontrollable 
and  uncertain  emotions  are  subordinate  to  the  better 
insight  of  reason." 

"  One  thing  more :  foreign  countries  suck  poison 
from  his  articles." 

"  How  so  ?  Merely  because  the  English  and  French 
press  value  his  criticisms  ? " 

"  Surely,  that  is  why  "— 

"  That  is  why  one  should  not  express  one's  opinion  ? 
There  are  other  men  in  leading  positions  who  think  as 
you  do,  Captain.  It  was  representative  Gothein  who 
said  on  the  15th  of  June  of  this  year:  'As  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Naval  Department  has  already  said, 
Persius'  articles  must  be  scrutinized  narrowly  because 
he  is  praised  in  England  for  his  technical  knowledge. 
For  this  very  reason  his  articles  are  extremely  dan- 
gerous.' " 

"  I  think  we  shall  have  to  break  off.  You  cannot 
shake  my  opinion  of  Captain  Persius  and  besides  that, 
here  we  are  in  Potsdam  and  I  have  to  get  to  my  bar- 
racks.    Adieu     .      .      ." 


5XVII 

FRIEDRICH  VON  PAYER 

On  the  third  floor  of  the  Reichstag  building  they  are 
getting  a  room  ready  for  a  meeting  of  the  Progressive 
People's  party ;  long  rows  of  tables  end  against  a  table 
standing  parallel  to  the  window.  Prom  this  window 
one  can  look  down  upon  Konigsplatz.  Large  paintings 
decorate  the  walls,  pictures  from  German  history. 
Among  them  is  "Wilhelm  the  First's  triumphal  entry 
of  1870  —  the  Kaiser  on  horseback,  passing  between 
French  flags  lowered  almost  to  the  dust.  We  know  that 
this  picture  was  meant  for  another  room  —  for  the 
assembly  room  —  but  it  caused  so  much  displeasure 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Yosges  that  it  was  relegated  to 
this  room,  where  no  one  but  members  was  allowed  to 
enter. 

A  little  party  meeting  was  to  take  place  behind  closed 
doors.  Here  where  so  many  secret  things  had  been  con- 
fided to  the  representatives,  where  once  Bethmann- 
Hollweg  announced  an  unrestricted  submarine  warfare, 
Herr  von  Payer,  a  "Wurttemberg  Excellence,  discussed 
the  political  situation.  He  was  the  first  war  Chancellor. 
A  large  manuscript  was  spread  out  in  front  of  him; 

198 


FRIEDRICH  YON  PAYER 

near  him,  wearing  horn  spectacles,  sat  a  ITerr  Funck 
from  Frankfurt  am  Main,  chairman  of  the  Central  com- 
mittee. Sitting  in  a  row  were :  Dr.  Otto  Weimer,  once 
Eugen  Rickter's  pupil,  now  first  tenor  of  the  party 
("Wagner  roles  —  Tannhauser,  Siegfried,  Tristan)  j 
then  Rector  Julius  Kopsch,  bass  buffo  in  progressive 
concert  ensemble,  the  man  who  always  sought  to  disarm 
the  enemy  in  his  own  camp  with  honeyed  pathos;  Dr. 
Friedrich  jSTaumann,  lyrical  tenor,  political  moral 
trumpeter  from  Sackingen;  Dr.  Pachnicke,  ingenue, 
with  the  shy  and  tender  upward  glance;  Mr.  Iloff,  the 
country  maiden,  with  chubby,  brown  cheeks;  Georg 
Gothein,  the  fiery  lover;  Bank  Director  Mommsen,  the 
elderly,  village  heroine;  Dr.  Struve,  the  witty  apercu; 
Dr.  Muller-Meiningen,  the  jack-in-the-box  with  "  a  gift 
of  gab  " ;  Professor  Quidde,  the  pacifist  circuit-rider, 
and  a  lot  more.  One  hundred  and  fifty  men,  represent- 
atives and  delegates  from  every  nook  and  cranny  of 
the  kingdom, —  the  journalists. 

ITerr  von  Payer  did  not  carry  the  audience  with  him, 
but  his  Swabian  dialect  lent  a  comfortable  air  to  his 
words.  His  head  was  slightly  bent  forward;  in  spite 
of  his  seventy  years  the  hair  was  all  there.  There  was 
not  a  single  white  thread  in  those  black  locks.  A  beard 
rested  upon  his  bosom,  and  out  of  two  small  caverns 
gleamed  two  little,  dark-brown  eyes. 

lie  had  the  confidence  of  the  whole  party;  a  long, 

199 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

democratic  past  justified  it.  lie  worked  side  by  side 
with  Rickert,  Richter,  Sonneniann,  and  all  the  rest  who 
are  now  lying  in  their  graves  —  with  Windhorst,  Gril- 
lenberger,  Bebel,  Singer,  and  the  old  Liebknecht, 
against  Bismarck's  law-making. 

At  twenty-six  years  of  age  he  was  candidate  for  the 
Reichstag  from  Tubingen,  where  his  father  was  beadle 
of  the  university.  He  was  not  elected  but  went  to  Stutt- 
gart and  settled  down  as  a  lawyer.  Later  he  was  elected 
to  the  Wurttemberger  landtag,  became  president,  was 
decorated  by  the  King,  knighted,  and  received  the  title 
of  Excellence.  He  was  always  the  most  popular  person 
in  Swabia,  was  our  Payer;  and  always  the  smooth  and 
clear-cut  democrat. 

His  political  accomplishments  are  not  to  be  despised. 
It  was  partly  his  work  that  the  National  Liberals  and 
independent  organizations  were  united  under  the  name 
of  the  new  Progressive  People's  party.  He  became 
leader  of  this  new  faction  in  the  Reichstag,  and  if  Herr 
"VVeimer  had  not  lifted  up  his  sonorous  voice  he  would 
have  been  the  party  mouthpiece. 

Two  or  three  times  his  friends  shook  their  heads; 
how  could  even  such  a  dyed-in-the-wool  democrat  take 
part  in  Billow's  block  swindle  ?  It  was  like  mixing  fire 
and  water.  How  was  it  possible  in  this  joyless  epoch 
for  liberalism  —  for  Herr  von  Payer  —  ostentatiously  to 
approve  of  the  foreign  language  paragraph,  which  bore 

200 


FRIEDPJCH  VOX  PAYER 

all  tlie  earmarks  of  an  exceptional  law?  Herr  von 
Payer  made  this  sacrifice  with  a  heavy  heart  in  order  to 
keep  the  block  together  and  to  insure  some  progress  for 
the  law. 

Like  Bethmann-IIollweg,  who  discarded  his  conserva- 
tism more  and  more  during  the  war  as  he  gained  a 
deeper  insight  into  its  causes,  so  von  Payer  found  a 
Swiss  guard  in  the  Progressive  People's  party  who 
watched  over  his  comings  and  goings.  Herr  von  Payer 
was  half  mockingly,  half  respectfully,  called  the  Pillar 
of  "Wilhelmstrasse.  Together  with  Herr  Spahn,  he  was 
the  party  diplomat,  the  real  pacifier  when  the  waves 
on  the  Left  threatened  to  rise.  And  yet  he  was  unable 
to  prevent  Bethman-Hollweg's  fall.  Everybody  de- 
serted the  Chancellor  in  his  hour  of  need,  although  at 
midnight  before  his  resignation  he  succeeded  in  wring- 
ing equal  suffrage  for  Prussia  from  the  Kaiser.  The 
National  Liberals  put  the  knife  in  his  back,  and  the 
Crown  Prince,  not  the  Kaiser,  called  on  the  party 
leaders  for  their  opinion  in  regard  to  Bethmann-Hollweg. 
They  said  their  say  to  a  wholly  political,  irresponsible 
personage  —  Westarp,  Stresemann,  Spahn,  Payer,  and 
David.  The  first  two  merely  said  he  was  a  crawfish. 
(A  year  later  in  1918,  Dr.  Stresemann,  the  political 
tree-frog,  together  with  the  whole  National  Liberal 
faction,  were  marching  with  drum  and  trumpet  under 
the  "  crawfish.")    Herr  Spahn,  his  little  legs  trembling, 

201 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY;  AND  TO-DAY 

gaid  they  did  not  like  to  lose  the  Chancellor,  no,  no, 
they  did  not  like  to,  and  Herr  David  pulled  a  sour  face 
at  the  name  and  at  the  behest  of  social  democracy.  Only 
the  valiant  Swabian  manfully  supported  the  Chancellor. 
His  Royal  Highness,  however,  had  already  made  up 
his  mind,  lit  a  cigarette  and  was  royally  calm.  Had 
not  the  gentlemen  representatives  themselves  unani- 
mously dropped  this  disgusting,  three-quarter  social 
democrat  pusher  ?  And  did  not  the  philosophy  of  might 
teach :  always  kick  a  fellow  when  he  is  down  ? 

From  this  day  German  parliamentarism  was  a  con- 
firmed fact.  The  Left  and  the  Center  united,  forming 
an  interfactional  commission.  Eifty  years  after  the 
foundation  of  the  North  German  Bund,  the  Reichstag 
gradually  began  to  feel  itself  on  equal  terms  with  the 
Bundesrat  and  the  Government.  Herr  von  Payer  was 
chairman  of  this  commission  which  had  no  power  ac- 
cording to  law,  but  whicli  nevertheless  represented  2i 
mighty  political  force.  Its  first  test  of  strength  was 
against  M  ichaelis ;  they  were  not  inclined  to  work  any 
longer  with  this  Imperial  Chancellor.  In  spite  of  a; 
struggle  he  had  to  go.  Count  Hertling  was  the  first  to  act 
as  a  politician  in  a  parliamentary  governed  state.  He 
assured  himself  of  the  confidence  of  the  majority  and 
after  a  program  was  agreed  upon  he  called  von  Payer 
Into  the  cabinet  as  Vice-Chancellor.  Payer  accepted 
this  position,  moved  into  a  modest  little  office  in  the 

202 


FRIEDRICH  YON  PAYER 

Department  of  the  Interior,  and  looked  about  for  SL 
stenographer  and  a  typewriting  machine  —  a  small  be- 
ginning.   He  waited  for  work  and  it  soon  came. 

In  the  general  strike  of  1918  he  played  the  role  of 
arbitrator,  not  without  success;  on  the  25th  of  Febru- 
ary he  made  his  maiden  speech  as  Yice-Chancellor,  not 
from  the  Government  table  but  from  the  speaker's  plat- 
form, in  order  to  make  a  show  as  parliament  minister. 
He  came  into  conflict  with  the  conservatives  because  he 
supported  equal  suffrage  and  condemned  their  wild, 
political  agitation  during  the  past  strike.  "  Our  ene- 
mies have  their  choice  of  weapons,"  he  resumed.  "  They 
may  use  the  arrows  either  of  the  Right  or  of  the 
Left  wing  against  us."  This  had  an  explosive  effect. 
The  conservatives  went  wild  over  the  comparison.  In 
their  excitement  some  sprung  from  their  seats;  Payer 
remained  calm  while  listening  to  such  remarks  as :  "  Is 
this  a  party  gathering  ? "  "  So  that's  the  great  states- 
man !  "  "  Unheard  of !  "  etc.  The  president  tried  to 
call  the  house  to  order,  but  his  wildly  swinging  bell 
had  no  effect  whatever.  Herr  von  Payer  had  just  made 
a  confession  of  democratic  faith. 

He  repeated  this  when  making  his  Stuttgart  speech' 
in  which  he  laid  down  the  war  aims  of  Germany.  He 
spoke  openly  and  freely  for  a  democratic  peace,  declared 
himself  ready  to  give  up  Belgium,  to  renounce  all  an- 
nexations or  compensations,  and  pointed  out  the  neces- 

203 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

sity  of  an  international  court,  a  league  of  nations,  and 
universal  disarmament.  Only  in  the  Eastern  problem 
did  lie  take  an  opposite  stand.  He  wished  to  exclude 
this  question  from  the  peace  discussion  altogether. 

Again  the  conservatives  and  Alldeutschers  boiled 
over;  there  was  a  racket  without  equal  in  the  press. 
The  Tagliclie  Rundschau,  foaming  with  rage,  accused 
him  of  taking  Goethe's  saying  for  a  motto :  "One  always 
denies  and  denies  with  justice  that  nobility  can  never 
learn  anything."  Another  Pan-German  organ  said 
pointedly  that  the  name  Payer  could  mean  nothing 
but  the  French  word  "  payer,"  therefore  he  must 
have  originally  come  from  France  and  it  was  no 
wonder. 

Ilerr  von  Payer  merely  smiled  with  the  same  calm- 
ness he  displayed  in  rejecting  the  Chancellorship  which 
was  offered  him  when  Count  Hertling  retired.  He  only 
wished  to  be  a  pioneer  of  the  new  epoch.  Then  came 
the  revolution  and  washed  him  away  on  its  waves. 
Finally  the  new  election  carried  him  into  the  National 
Assembly,  where,  for  a  while,  he  played  the  part  of  a 
leader  of  the  Democratic  faction. 


XXVIII 

KUNO  GRAF  VON  WESTARP 

On  the  15th  of  May,  lS^,  Eugen  Richter  character- 
ized Bismarck's  political  methods  in  a  very  few  words. 
The  question  of  power,  he  said,  was  always  the  chief 
problem  of  the  Chancellor.  "  In  foreign  affairs  it  was 
his  clever  handling  of  this  question,  of  the  relations  of 
power,  that  won  him  the  most  success.  His  great  mis- 
take was  that  he  transferred  this  method  of  action  to 
home  politics  in  an  unjust  manner  .  .  .  The 
Chancellor  brings  the  whole  power  of  state  to  hear 
against  a  mere  party,  thereby  arousing  the  people.  Later 
he  follows  up  this  action  as  if  it  concerned  a  question  of 
power  which  can  only  be  disposed  of  by  a  diplomatic 
compromise."  These  words  were  spoken  at  a  turning 
point  in  young  Germany's  political  life.  For  the  first 
time  Bismarck  began  to  doubt  the  success  of  a  clashing 
Kultur  war.  He  needed  the  Center's  support  for  his 
new  protective  tariff  and  economic  schemes.  At  least 
a  part  of  the  National  Liberals  seemed  about  to  desert 
him.  His  whole  volcanic  hatred  was  now  directed 
against  social  democracy  which  he  held  responsible  for 
the  attentat  against  his  royal  masters.     A  new  era  of 

205 


LEADERS  OF  .YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

exceptional  law-making  began.  After  the  Berlin  Con- 
gress lie  lost  favor  with  Russia  and  adopted  a  de- 
fensive policy  with  Austria-Hungary.  This  and  the 
annexation  of  Alsace-Lorraine  were  the  seeds  of  the 
present  world  war.  The  theory  of  power,  in  spite  of 
Nietzsche's  hoarse  enthusiasm,  did  not  seem  entirely 
unquestionable  to  the  succeeding  generations.  If  one 
wishes  to  give  this  great  struggle  of  nations  an 
ethical  meaning  it  is  the  thought  that  through  blood 
and  iron  alone  will  this  idea  of  power  be  forever  done 
away  with,  at  least  as  far  as  international  politics  are 
concerned. 

Xuno  Graf  von  Westarp  does  not  subscribe  to  this 
theory ;  he  is  a  disciple  of  the  theory  of  might  through 
and  through, —  a  fanatic  opponent  of  social  democracy. 
This  East  Elbian  Junker  is  an  adept  of  Otto  von  Bis- 
marck. In  1918  Westarp  was  playing  a  leading  role 
in  parliament  although  he  had  only  been  a  member  for 
ten  years.  After  Herr  von  Naumann's  death,  von  Hey- 
debrand  became  chief  of  the  conservative  faction,  but 
after  transferring  his  main  activity  to  the  threatened 
Prussian  three-class  Landtag,  Westarp  became  the  al- 
most undisputed  leader  of  this  faction.  Here  he  was  the 
big  gun  of  the  party,  and  every  Sunday  in  the  Kreuz- 
zeitung  he  gave  a  carefully  composed  recapitulation  of 
conservative  doings  for  the  week.  A  small  cross  re- 
sembling the  iron  one  was  his  literary  sign.    He  wrote 

206 


KUXO  GRAF  VOX  WESTARP 

as  lie  spoke:  sharp,  cutting,  clear,  and  calm,  without 
developing  any  large  or  surprising  ideas.  lie  spoke 
from  a  wholly  one-sided,  almost  scholastic-conservative 
point  of  view.  There  was  no  understanding  or  forgiv- 
ing, no  penetration  into  the  psychology  of  the  other 
party;  there  was  but  an  unswerving  adherence  to 
one's  own,  to  the  historical,  and  an  absolute  rejection 
of  all  that  did  not  fit  into  his  scheme.  He  was  a  perfect 
example  of  the  uncompromising;  one  froze  in  this 
political  rigidity,  in  this  iron  consequence;  one  could 
almost  see  him  writing  with  folded  arms  (if  you  allow 
me  this  bold  comparison)  just  as  he  sat  when  Bethmann- 
Hollweg  was  talking. 

He  was  the  exact  opposite  of  Herr  Heydebrand,  who 
played  with  things  pleasantly  and  smoothly,  often  bub- 
bling over  with  wit.  Westaxp  was  hard  and  cold,  puri- 
tanic; he  stood  there  like  a  public  moralist  to  whom 
politics  was  something  frozenly  objective.  In  reality 
they  were  subjective,  unfathomable,  concealing  in 
themselves  thousandfold  contrasts.  All  sorts  of  things 
played  a  part:  birth,  social  milieu,  education,  brain 
capacity,  emotional  life,  practical  experience,  etc. 
Westarp  liked  to  examine  everybody  politically;  would 
have  liked  to  play  the  role  of  political  confessor  to  the 
Government.  Because  things  have  taken  another 
course,  because  Bethmann-Hollweg  turned  a  cold 
shoulder  to  the  conservatives,  because  Count  Hertling, 

207 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

although  maiutaining  the  outward  form,  was  even  fur- 
ther from  the  conservative  line  and  left  them  entirely 
out  of  the  new  People's  Government,  Westarp's  weekly 
articles  have  taken  on  a  somewhat  crabbed  and  bitter 
tone  —  something  like  that  of  a  police  commissioner  too 
early  pensioned. 

This  is  not  a  bad  comparison  as  Westarp  has  had  a 
great  deal  to  do  with  the  police.  His  father  was  head 
forester.  He  died  when  Kuno  was  but  four  years  of 
age.  Westarp  attended  the  Potsdam  gymnasium,  at- 
tended three  or  four  universities,  studied  law,  and  took 
up  the  usual  Government  career.  Eate  kept  him  in  the 
Ostmark.  He  became  assistant  Landrat,  the  Landrat 
in  the  idyllic  district  of  Bomst.  After  a  short  period 
elsewhere  he  was  called  to  the  Department  of  the  In- 
terior, where  his  upward  climb  soon  began.  In  April, 
1905,  he  was  appointed  police  director  of  Schoneberg, 
later  becoming  president  of  police,  and  in  another  five 
years  was  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  He  still  holds 
this  office  and  also  that  of  lieutenant  of  the  militia.  He 
is  fifty-six  years  old.  The  district  where  he  was  once 
Landrat  sent  him  to  the  Reichstag.  He  had  to  battle 
against  a  Center  man  in  1908.  The  prospects  were  not 
particularly  favorable.  He  made  a  profession  of  anti- 
Semitism  and  pulled  through  on  the  Jewish  vote.  In 
1912  his  position  was  more  favorable  for  the  Con- 
servatives presented  a  united  front  to  the  Poles,  and 

208 


KUXO  GRAF  VOX  WESTARP 

Westarp  laid  out  his  opponent  flat.  After  that  he  gov- 
erned rigidly  within  the  boundaries  of  conservatism  — 
even  deigning  to  spread  a  little  propaganda  now  and 
then  among  the  masses. 

Count  Westarp  is  one  of  those  who  cannot  forget  — 
he  is  like  an  uncanny,  party,  political-register,  like  a 
walking  bureau  of  acts  in  which  the  sins  of  the  others 
are  carefully  filed  away.  His  articles  are  valuable 
material  for  the  conservative  propaganda;  he  uncon- 
sciously plays  the  role  of  political  coach. 

Indefatigably  industrious,  he  is  always  Johnny-on- 
the-spot  in  the  Reichstag.  He  sits  on  his  flap  seat  under 
the  Chancellor's  place  ever  ready  to  spring  up  with  a 
protest  on  his  lips.  A  secret  Cromwell  (just  the  other 
way  about)  ready  to  stake  his  life  for  his  king  —  ready 
to  lead  a  Puritan  squadron  to  free  his  monarch  from 
the  snares  of  anti-king  Demos.  This  is  the  way  it  looks 
in  a  romance.  In  reality  he  represents  a  small  clique  — 
a  Junker  caste  —  who  have  lost  almost  all  but  the  name. 

Count  Kuno  is  one  of  those  whose  task  it  is  to  cover 
the  retreat  of  the  Junkers.  He  has  found  his  place  in 
the  new  conservative  firm,  the  German  National  Peo- 
ple's party,  even  if  he  was  not  a  candidate  for  a  seat  in 
the  Xational  Assembly  on  account  of  being  a  "  com- 
promised personage." 


XXIX 

HUGO  HAASE 

In  the  Reichstag  Hugo  Haase  sat  on  the  left  by  the 
wall ;  I  still  see  him  abruptly  barking  his  remonstrances 
in  broad,  somewhat  ordinary,  East  Prussian  dialect. 
It  sounded  like  a  voice  coming  up  from  the  deepest 
depths,  a  rasping  bass  from  a  great  hollow  cask  boom- 
ing, "  Crucify  him !  "  It  was  a  great  contrast  to  the 
high  falsetto  of  the  step-softly's  and  compromisers  in 
the  Parliament.  When  Haase  gave  the  signal  his  com- 
rades gave  tongue  in  quick  succession  —  Dittman, 
Herzfeld,  Stadthagen,  Cohn,  Wurm,  down  to  Lieb- 
knecht  and  Riihle,  until  the  noise  swelled  to  a  roaring 
chorus.  This  storm  of  applause  or  disapproval  which 
always  broke  forth  on  the  dot,  swelling  from  muttering 
thunder  to  a  raging  tornado,  was  never  carried  out  with 
the  same  success  by  anyone  else  but  the  Haase  group 
which  formed  only  about  one  twentieth  of  the  whole 
House.  I  remember  distinctly  how  Dittmann's  attack 
against  the  prison  disgrace  succeeded  by  this  clever 
move  —  he  even  carried  the  Center  and  the  National- 
Liberals  with  him.  But  they  were  much  worse  among 
themselves.    When  Haase  and  his  people  quarreled  with 

210 


HUGO  HAASE 

the  majority  Social  Democrats,  it  looked  as  if  they 
would  spring  at  each  other's  throats  every  minute  — 
Haase,  the  wild  revolutionist,  leading  the  pack. 

Is  he  really  so  revolutionary  ?  Appearances  deceive. 
Perhaps  he  is  only  a  fanatic  for  truth,  one  who  honestly 
takes  the  consequences  of  his  belief.  He  is  a  small, 
unpretending  little  man,  shy  and  repressed,  with  a  yel- 
low, wrinkled  face  and  thin,  drooping  mustache,  small, 
nervous  gray  eyes  under  tired,  half-closed  lids.  His 
bent  back  looks  like  a  youth  at  hard  labor. 

God  knows  his  youth  was  joyless  enough.  Do  you 
know  the  existence  of  a  Jewish  small  trader  in  a  little 
town  on  the  borders  of  East  Germany  ?  Well-fed,  com- 
fortable citizens,  feudal  Junkers  from  the  country  as 
guests,  bored  poker-playing,  cavalry  officers  —  that  was 
and  still  is  the  milieu.  And  the  little  parasitic  Jew  in 
their  midst,  whose  services  are  so  often  required.  He 
was  born  in  1863,  near  Albenstein  before  it  had  a  rail- 
way station  or  became  the  seat  of  a  commanding  general. 
He  attended  the  Gymnasium  of  Rastenburg  and  later 
studied  law  at  the  University  of  Konigsberg. 

It  was  a  tedious  road  to  climb  but  he  trod  the  thorny 
path  alone.  Could  he  take  up  a  Government  career? 
Ridiculous !  After  passing  his  examinations  he  became 
a  lawyer.  He  was  clear,  logical,  and  possessed  a  store 
of  hard-earned  knowledge;  above  all,  he  was  a  man 
who  retained  a  sympathetic  heart  in  spite  of  life's  bit- 

211 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 

temess.  lie  lusted  not  after  gold  or  social  position, 
but  remained  at  the  bottom  helping  the  poor.  He  be- 
came the  proletariat's  lawyer  in  Konigsberg  and  his 
practice  grew  from  day  to  day.  Often  he  was  not  paid 
and  many  a  time  he  reached  into  his  own  pocket  to  help 
a  needy  client.  The  confidence  of  the  people  soon  sent 
him  to  the  Konigsberg  city  council;  in  1897  to  the 
Reichstag,  where  he  quickly  won  the  liking  of  the  party 
patriarch,  Bebel. 

His  radicalism  made  an  impression.  He  knew  how 
to  win  his  comrades  on  party  days,  for  he  was  not  like 
Ledebour,  who  opposed  for  the  mere  sake  of  opposition. 
He  had  higher  tilings  in  view.  There  was  always  un- 
derstanding for  practical  questions  or  tactics  if  they  did 
not  affect  his  fundamental  principles.  Only  against 
revisionism  he  fought  with  fire  and  sword.  This  was 
a  disease  which  must  be  stamped  out.  He  settled  the 
score  with  Kurt  Eisner,  the  brilliant  author  of  the 
Vorwarts  leading  articles,  and  placed  Hildebrand,  the 
social-imperial,  colonial  politician,  before  a  court  of 
inquisition.  In  the  meantime  he  had  become  chairman 
of  the  party.  Out  of  love  for  the  ideals  of  socialism  he 
gave  up  a  lucrative  law  practice  and  lived  upon  the 
meager  sum  of  3600  marks,  his  salary  as  head  of  the 
party.  Singer,  his  predecessor,  was  of  a  genial,  open 
nature,  a  personified  Bonhomie.  Haase  was  industrious, 
taciturn,  unapproachable,  with  no  particular  friends. 

212 


HUGO  HAASE 

Then  came  the  war.  The  Socialistic  Internationale 
was  to  stand  its  first  trial  by  fire.  On  the  evening  be- 
fore the  decision  Haase  chased  his  people  out  on  the 
streets  to  demonstrate  for  peace.  I  witnessed  the  bat- 
talion of  workers  as  they  marched  through  the  streets 
of  Leipzig.  But  the  Marseillaise  sounded  flat  and  dull. 
Too  soon  Haase  had  let  his  comrades  on  the  other  side 
know  that  German  social  democracy  would  try  to  hin- 
der the  war.  They  had  depended  upon  this  and  were 
disappointed.  The  4th  of  August  saw  German  social 
democracy,  with  Haase,  almost  to  a  man  behind  the 
Government.  Things  went  on  this  way  for  a  while. 
War  credit  was  voted  for,  but,  under  the  covers,  oppo- 
sition within  the  party  was  gradually  beginning  to  stir. 
At  the  beginning  of  April,  1915,  a  socialistic  minority 
sent  a  peace  manifest  to  all  foreign  countries.  An  an- 
nouncement from  Hugo  Haase,  Eduard  Bernstein,  and 
Earl  Kautsky  first  appeared  in  the  Leipzig er  VoTks- 
zeitung.  It  was  necessary  to  put  the  party  on  another 
basis  on  account  of  the  intentions  of  certain  influential 
circles  in  regard  to  conquest.  This  had  the  effect  of 
a  bomb.  Haase,  chairman  of  the  whole  party  and  of 
the  Reichstag  faction,  had  not  informed  anyone  of 
this  intention.  In  a  savage  controversy  they  reproached 
him  with  having  betrayed  the  party.  The  whole  ma- 
chinery of  the  party  was  set  in  motion.  Everybody 
Btormed,  yelled,  and  finally  forced  him  to  resign. 

213 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

The  biggest  rumpus  was  in  March,  1916,  when  the 
extra  budget  was  brought  in;  Scheidemann  spoke  for 
it  in  the  name  of  the  party.  Haase,  quite  unexpectedly, 
was  against  it.  He  and  his  friends  thought  it  a  matter 
for  the  Government.  There  was  an  unheard-of  scene. 
The  lines  were  drawn  up  for  battle;  mental  machine 
guns  limbered  for  action.  On  the  one  side  were  Dr. 
David,  Keil,  and  Sachse  from  the  majority;  on  the 
other,  Haase,  Riihle  and  Henke.  "  Base  coward," 
"  Treachery,"  and  there  were  even  threats  of  violence. 
Sachse  said  to  Haase:  "You  coward,  you  didn't  have 
the  nerve  to  face  the  faction.  This  is  a  treacherous 
attack."  Haase  replied :  "  The  Secretary  of  State  has 
the  courage  to  doubt  whether  I  am  a  just  representative 
of  the  people.  One  thing  I  want  to  say  to  you  and  that 
is  this :  after  twenty  months  of  war,  the  best  patriot  is 
he  who  works  for  an  understanding,  for  an  end  to  this 
war." 

This  excited  debate  ended  in  a  general  rumpus  on 
the  left  side  of  the  House.  The  president  was  wholly 
helpless.  He  could  swing  the  bell,  scream,  protest  — 
nothing  helped.    He  had  to  dismiss  the  sitting. 

Under  Haase' s  leadership  an  organization  was  formed 
which  later  associated  itself  with  the  Independent 
Socialists.  The  party  squabble  went  on.  In  public 
meetings,  in  the  press,  and  in  the  Reichstag,  this  self- 
destruction  continued. 

214 


HUGO  HAASE 

The  threads  of  the  revolutionary  opposition  can  be 
traced  far  back  —  from  Liebknecht  and  Rosa  Luxem- 
burg to  Haase,  Cohn,  and  Dittmann.  Haase  was  soon 
the  confidential  man  of  all  those  who  were  dimly  striv- 
ing after  the  truth  —  for  some  way  out  of  this  slaughter 
of  human  beings,  like  Beerf  elde,  Hans  Paasche,  and  the 
sailors  who  wanted  to  start  something  in  1917.  Dr. 
Michaelis,  the  Chancellor,  and  Mr.  von  Capelle,  Secre- 
tary of  the  3STavy,  accused  Haase  of  high  treason  in  an 
open  session  of  the  Reichstag.  But  he  and  Dittmann 
defended  themselves  cleverly. 

And  then  the  revolution  really  came.  Haase  had  a 
thousand  threads  in  his  hands  —  this  time  they  suc- 
ceeded. The  majority  of  the  Social  Democrats  wanted 
to  form  a  cabinet  including  the  Haase  people  and  the 
Democrats,  but  the  Independents  objected.  They  re- 
jected a  party  union.  But  they  were  ready  to  partici- 
pate in  a  purely  socialistic  cabinet,  so  that  was  the  way 
it  was  arranged. 

Two  men  were  put  in  the  same  office,  a  majority 
man  and  an  Independent  —  Ebert  and  Haase  at  the 
head  of  the  whole.  The  one  inclined  to  the  right,  the 
other  to  the  left.  The  Bolshevik-Sparticist  group, 
Liebknecht,  Luxemburg,  and  consorts,  daily  sought  to 
pull  them  ever  further  toward  the  left. 

But  Haase  remained  cool  in  the  midst  of  the  con- 
fusion that  surrounded  him.      He  would  not  hear  of 

215 


LEADERS  OF  YESTEEDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

dictation  by  the  proletariat.  He  again  reflected  demo- 
cratically and  was  conscious  of  his  duties  and  responsi- 
bilities as  a  member  of  the  Government. 

Militarism,  which  he  had  fought  against  all  his  life, 
threatened  to  lift  its  head  and  become  dictator  in  the 
shape  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  workmen  and 
soldiers'  councils.  Ledebour  at  the  head  of  this  com- 
mittee attacked  his  party  friends  in  his  usual  savage  and 
theatrical  manner.  Haase  did  not  know  which  way  to 
turn.  He  did  not  wish  to  fall  out  with  anyone  and  so 
he  came  to  no  decision.  Being  a  National  Liberal  he 
dangled  from  left  to  right,  hither  and  thither,  hinder- 
ing the  activity  of  the  Goverment  by  his  negative  stand. 
He  finally  resigned  together  with  Dittmann  and  Barth. 
He  did  not  stand  the  test  by  fire.  Politics  means 
action ;  he  understood  only  how  to  criticize.  The  masses 
passed  over  him  to  the  order  of  the  day. 

Though  he  remained  the  leader  of  the  radical 
Social  Democrats  and  represented  that  faction  in  the 
National  Assembly,  the  extreme  left  wing  of  the  party, 
the  noisy  battalions  of  workingmen  did  not  support 
him.  These  radical  elements  clamored  for  joining 
hands  with  the  Communists  (the  German  Bolsheviki), 
Haase  held  out  for  a  compromise  between  dictatorship 
of  the  proletariat  and  democratic  parliamentarism,  but 
in  vain.  At  the  moment  when  the  conflict  raging  within 
the  party  reached  its  height,  a  workingman,  Voss,  made 

216 


HUGO  HAASE 

an  attempt  upon  liis  life.  It  has  been  stated  that  it  was 
an  act  of  personal  revenge.  Haase  was  struck  by  several 
revolver  shots  and  mortally  wounded.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  ultimate  motive  behind  the  deed,  it  had 
opened  for  the  party  the  road  to  Moscow. 


XXX 

WILHELM  VON  WALDOW 

Birds  of  a  feather  flock  together.  Dr.  Georg 
Michaelis,  the  dried-up,  bureaucratic,  lemon  with  the 
sour,  sanctimonious  halo,  fired  Herr  Tortilowitz  von 
Batocki-Friebe,  and  called  Mr.  von  Waldow  to  the  head 
of  the  War  Food  Bureau  during  the  dog-days  of  the 
year  1917.  He  who  wanted  to  play  the  strong  man 
so  badly  did  not  resemble  Caesar  in  this  respect.  Csesar 
loved  to  have  "  stout  men "  about  him  whose  "  bald 
heads  slept  well  o'  nights."  Herr  von  Batocki  had  both 
a  bald  head  and  a  thick  waist,  and  we  have  no  reason 
for  presuming  that  he  suffered  from  insomnia.  But  in 
spite  of  this  he  was  sent  to  Konigsberg,  to  a  quiet  re- 
treat in  the  upper  prasidiunu  A  bureaucrat  bound  in 
parchment,  a  yellowed,  living  document  took  its  place. 
After  the  effervescing  volubility  and  ink-slinging  of 
Herr  Batocki  came  the  calm  and  reserve  of  the  over- 
correct  official,  the  dumb,  warning  exclamation  point. 
Meager  and  tall,  cold  and  unapproachable  we-must- 
hold-out  —  in  paragraphs ! 

The  Conservative  press  rejoiced.  At  last  the  uncom- 
fortable Herr  Batocki,  who  always  played  politics  from 

218 


WILEELM  YON  WALDO W 

the  consumer's  point  of  view  and  not  from  the  pro- 
ducer's, was  left  out  in  the  cold,  but  they  forgot  that 
as  an  East  Prussian  landowner  he  was  also  a  producer. 
The  Deutsche  Tageszeitung  wrote:  "  We  would  like  to 
warn  against  the  opinion  that  it  needs  only  an  amalga- 
mation of  all  our  food  measures  in  order  to  insure  a 
better  provision  for  the  whole  people."  The  Agrarians 
had  already  had  enough  of  the  centralization  of  the 
food  supply  and  they  looked  to  the  new  man  with  hope 
in  their  eyes,  this  man  from  Stettin,  from  blessed  Pom- 
mem.  But  the  leaves  of  the  forest  on  the  Left  rustled 
disapprovingly :  "  What !  Walclow  ?  a  man  with  his 
political  past  ?  One  who  felt  comfortable  only  in  a  state 
of  exceptional  law-making,  who  had  earned  his  spurs 
as  an  Ostmark  fanatic?  One  who  was  used  to  going 
forward  without  regard  for  others  ?  "■ 

The  Waldows  are  genuine  Junkers  and  can  trace 
their  ancestry  to  the  thirteenth  century.  For  years 
they  have  served  their  country  as  officials  and  officers; 
two  belonged  to  the  Prussian  Landtag,  Bernhard  and 
Achatz.  Naturally  they  occupied  the  seats  furthest 
on  the  right.  At  the  beginning  of  the  century  Wil- 
helm  was  president  of  the  Government  in  Konigsberg 
and  instituted  a  strict  regime.  Billow  stiffened 
himself  with  a  rigid  Ostmark  policy  at  that  time;  his 
hobby  horse  was  the  anti-Polish  policy  with  which  he 
hoped  to  pluck  a  few  laurels  for  himself.     At  the  end 

219 


LEADEES  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

of  February,  1903,  Herr  von  Bitter  resigned  from  his 
post  as  president  of  the  Posen  Government  because 
Biilow  had  found  him  unsuitable  for  it ;   too  compliant. 
TValdow  was  his  successor.     "  Yon  Cassius  has  a  lean 
and  hungry  look,  he  thinks  too  much;  such  men  are 
dangerous."    But  he  was  just  the  man  for  Biilow.     In 
scarcely  six  months  there  was  a  change  in  the  coloniza- 
tion  commission.      Landrat  Blomeyer  from  Meseritz 
energetically  took  over  the  leadership  of  the  colonization 
work.      The  two  understood  one  another  excellently. 
There  was  a  political  harmony  of  souls.     Baron  von 
Hammerstein  gave  the  parole  in  the  Landtag  in  Janu- 
ary,   1904.      He   said:      "We   are  not   dealing  with 
opponents  who  are  our  equals;  we  have  but  to  com- 
mand and  they  to  obey."     The  Prussian  Poles  who 
paid  their  taxes  and  served  their  military  term  like 
every  other  citizen  were  handled  like  pariahs  on  their 
own  inherited  land.     This  was  also  Waldow's  recipe. 
In  this  same  year  the  Royal  Academy  and  the  Kaiser 
Friedrich  Museum  were  opened  in  Posen.    An  imperial 
palace  in  Roman  style  was  built  at  the  entrance  to  the 
city  as  a  token  of  German  despotism  and  power.     This 
was  the  cultural  offensive ;  the  political  followed  imme- 
diately.    The  so-called  language  decree  opened  the  joy- 
ful nationality  battle.      Thenceforth   Polish   children 
were  to  receive  church  instruction  in  the  German  lan- 
guage only.     The  Poles  seethed.     The  clergy  protested 

220 


WILHELM  VOX  WALDO W 

to  a  man.  But  it  did  not  Help ;  they  went  on  governing 
and  commanding.  A  moral  conquest  must  be  made 
under  all  circumstances.  Prussia  must  be  at  the  front 
with  her  Germanizing.  In  1907  more  than  fifty  stu- 
dents were  dismissed  from  different  Gymnasiums  in 
the  province  because  their  brothers  and  sisters  refused 
to  answer  in  German  during  religious  instructions  in 
the  people's  school.  To  the  Pole,  God  is  a  Pole  and  the 
Virgin  Mary  also,  with  the  mild  and  gentle  features  of 
the  black  Mother  of  God  of  the  Jasna  Gora  in  Czen- 
stochau.  Shall  one  speak  to  her  in  German  ?  When  the 
Archbishop  of  Gnesen,  Posen,  Dr.  von  Stablewski,  died, 
his  chair  remained  empty  for  years  because  the  Govern- 
ment rejected  all  other  candidates  on  the  ground  that 
they  were  suspected  of  being  pro-Polish.  The  last 
trump  was  the  expropriation  law  in  1908.  A  year  later 
the  president  invited  a  number  of  South  German  poli- 
ticians and  journalists  to  a  trip  through  the  Ostmark 
in  order  proudly  to  show  them  the  work  of  colonization 
that  had  been  done.  Fresh,  clean,  little  German  villages 
met  the  eye  of  the  visitor  everywhere,  but  the  silent  and 
tenacious  resistance  of  the  Pole  was  not  visible.  They 
did  not  see  the  construction  of  a  cooperative  trading 
system  going  on  which  was  to  be  an  economic  weapon 
in  the  battle  for  land. 

After  the  resignation  of  Prince  Biilow  the  current  of 
events  changed  slowly.     True,  Bethmann-IIollweg  and 

221 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

the  new  Minister  of  Agriculture,  Herr  von  Schoelemer- 
Leiser,  a  Catholic,  declared  that  the  expropriation  law 
was  to  be  enforced,  but  we  waited  long  for  the  first  case. 
In  the  meantime  a  new  era  of  reconciliation  was  dawn- 
ing. !War  clouds  were  beginning  to  darken  the  smil- 
ing German  heavens,  and  the  first  command  was  to  set 
your  house  in  order.  All  strife  and  dissension,  espe- 
cially in  the  neighborhood  of  the  borders,  must  be  done 
away  with :  in  Posen,  West-Prussia,  in  Alsace-Lorraine, 
and  in  Schleswig,  all  the  foreign-speaking  parts.  In 
August,  1913,  a  number  of  Polish  magnates  were  guests 
of  the  Kaiser  in  the  palace  at  Posen.  On  the  way  to 
the  palace  many  of  them  were  abused  by  the  people. 
But  the  new  turn  of  things  went  on.  The  times  seemed 
to  have  returned  when,  under  Caprivi,  Herr  von  Kos- 
cielski-Admiralski  was  persona  gratissima  at  the  Court 
and  was  allowed  to  kiss  the  hands  of  Their  Majesties. 
But  perhaps  they  only  seemed  to  have  returned. 

Wilhelm  von  "Waldow's  role  was  played  and  grumpily 
he  packed  his  satchel.  Herr  Blomeyer  had  already  had 
to  give  up  his  office  at  head  of  the  colonization  commis- 
sion on  account  of  differences  of  opinion  in  regard  to 
the  expropriation  law.  Herr  Waldow  asked  for  another 
sphere  of  action  and  got  it  shortly  before  the  war  in 
the  quiet  province  of  Pommern.  On  account  of  his  icy 
reserve,  he  was  soon  nicknamed  the  "  Frozen  Towel  n 
by  his  official  comrades. 

222 


WILHELM  YCXN"  WALDOW 

Two  years  later  when  everybody  was  shrieking  for  a 
food  dictator,  he  was  thought  of.  But  the  Left  kicked 
up  a  row  at  the  first  mention  of  his  name  and  Herr  von 
Batocki  won  the  race.  A  year  later  Waldow  put  his 
East  Prussian  colleague  out  of  the  running.  This  highly 
conservative  gentleman  with  the  allurements  of  power, 
now  entered  a  queer  milieu.  He  had  a  Social  Democrat 
as  under-secretary.  He  swallowed  this  bitter  pill.  In 
the  council  sat  a  few  more  Social  Democrats,  Christians 
and  Hirsch-Dunckers.  He  accepted  this  mixed  society, 
too.  Finally  the  Food  Bureau  was  given  a  Reichstag 
committee.  Even  this  he  worried  down.  He  became 
State  Secretary  and  at  the  same  time  was  given  the 
office  of  Prussian  State  Food  Commissioner,  which  Herr 
Michaelis  had  held  until  now.  This  fullness  of  power 
which  was  now  laid  in  his  hands  was  a  cooling  salve 
for  his  ruffled  spirits. 

Then  when  he  had  taken  over  the  office  and  the  press 
had  ceased  its  ravings,  it  became  remarkably  still  in  his 
corner  of  the  world.  He  did  not  gossip;  he  worked. 
Order  after  order  appeared;  whole  squadrons  of  para- 
graphs marched  along,  but  —  Batocki's  old  system  re- 
mained. The  compulsory  economic  regulations  were 
not  changed  a  bit.  The  Agrarians  soon  began  to  pull 
long  faces  and  to  grumble.  Herr  von  Oldenburg-Janu- 
schau,  the  Don  Quixote  of  the  Landowners'  League, 
harnessed  his  steed  more  than  once  for  the  battle;  Dr. 

223 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Rosieke,  the  Ajax  of  the  League,  flourished  his  sword 
for  a  brave  attack  against  Batocki's  legacy,  screaming: 
"  Economics,  Horatio,  economics !  "  and  brought  up  a 
bill  in  the  Reichstag  that  was  to  make  a  breach  in  the 
rationing  management  and  give  the  agrarian  possibili- 
ties of  greater  profit.  But  Herr  von  Waldow  remained 
hard  and  immovable  like  the  one-time  Landgraf  von 
Thuringen.  Now  and  again  he  budged  a  little  and 
granted  a  little  higher  price  for  milk,  or  for  grain,  in 
order  to  keep  up  the  joy  of  production.  But  he  failed 
utterly  in  the  battle  against  forbidden  trafficking  in  food 
stuffs.  This  grew  and  grew  into  a  mighty  weed,  al- 
though Waldow  left  no  means  untried  to  put  a  stop  to  it. 
lie  even  compelled  the  Imperial  mail  service  to  give  up 
its  sublime  and  lofty  secrets.  He  took  the  bureau  for 
the  prevention  of  usuiy  to  his  heart ;  it  became  his  body- 
guard against  usurers  and  illegal  traffickers  in  food. 

But  the  public  had  grown  fatalistic  in  the  meantime. 
Neither  Batocki  nor  Waldow  had  stilled  their  hunger. 
The  one  snatched  at  popularity,  the  other  at  para- 
graphs. Both  were  conceptions,  but  conceptions  do  not 
fill  empty  stomachs.  The  public's  temper  had  gone  to 
the  devil  on  the  officially  guaranteed  but  meager  daily 
rations.  Herr  von  Waldow  had  never  had  a  temper, 
but  nightmares  and  bad  dreams  had  ceased,  for  they 
only  come  from  a  full  stomach.  That  at  least  was  one 
service  to  the  public. 


XXXI 

RICHARD    VOX    KUHLMANN 

The  street  was  again  still  where  there  had  been  a 
seething  and  a  boiling  for  days  and  weeks.  The  Piazza 
had  obtained  its  victim.  A  dead  man  lay  on  the  paving 
stones,  a  man  who,  if  he  had  seriously  wanted  to  climb 
could  have  climbed  to  the  highest  rung  of  German  offi- 
cialdom —  who,  as  commissioner  of  the  Kaiser  and  the 
Bundesrat,  could  have  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  Ger- 
man nation.  But  that  was  all  over  now,  Kichard  von 
Kuhlmann  was  officially  dead,  and  so  young,  only  forty- 
five,  and  already  laid  on  the  shelf  at  an  age  when  Bis- 
marck had  not  yet  begun  to  guide  the  course  of  Prussia's 
ship  of  state. 

Was  it  really  all  over  ?  As  long  as  Germany  had  no 
parliamentary  system,  as  long  as  there  was  no  continual 
exchange  of  strength  between  ministers  and  parliamen- 
tarians, just  so  long  must  our  discarded  statesmen  van- 
ish in  the  dark  depths  of  some  Sans  Souci  when  the 
winds  of  disfavor  blow  in  their  direction.  Very  seldom 
did  one  ever  enter  the  Keichstag  or  receive  a  mission 
of  any  sort;  Billow,  Posadowsky,  and  "Wermuth  were 
a  few  of  those  who  reappeared  for  a  fleeting  moment  on 

225 


LEADERS  OP  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

the  political  surface.  The  others  eked  out  the  rest  of 
their  existences  on  the  scanty  Royal  Prussian  pension, 
either  writing  memoirs  or  devoting  themselves  to  music, 
like  Bethmann-Hollweg.  When  Herr  von  Kiihlmann 
closed  the  door  of  the  Foreign  Office  behind  him  for  the 
last  time,  he  pushed  his  chair  into  a  quiet  corner  and 
opened  a  bottle  of  expensive  old  wine. 

"  She  caused  me  more  trouble  than  all  the  foreign 
powers  or  opposing  parties  at  home.  The  battle  against 
her  irritated  me  more  than  all  the  other  frictions  I  had 
to  contend  with.  She  possessed  great  influence  over  her 
husband  and  sometimes  this  was  not  of  the  best.  The 
king  took  her  part  mostly  from  mere  chivalry,  even 
when  appearances  were  against  her."  So  wrote  Her- 
mann Hoffmann,  the  confidential  journalist  of  Eried- 
richsruh.  These  were  Bismark's  words  over  the 
Kaiserin  Augusta.  Herr  von  Kiihlmann,  who  was  re- 
proached with  being  a  gallant,  had  not  merely  one  or 
two  moral  petticoats  to  contend  with,  but  there  were 
other  factors  —  real  "  imponderabilities  "  —  which  Bis- 
marck understood  how  to  master.  Eor  instance,  he 
knew  in  1870  and  1871  quite  well  why  he  did  not  stir 
from  general  headquarters  and  leave  the  field  to  His 
Majesty  and  the  Generals.  It  is  charming  to  read  of 
it  to-day.  But  let  us  come  to  the  analysis  of  Kiihlmann 
and  his  policy: 

Kiihlmann  was  a  globe-trotter  comme  il  faut.     He 

226 

/ 


RICHARD  VCW  KUHLMAOT 

was  born  in  Constantinople.  His  father,  director  of 
the  Anatole  railroads,  was  one  of  the  last  to  be  knighted. 
He  was  a  citizen  of  Bavaria  and  a  Catholic.  Like  all 
great  diplomats,  Richard  studied  law,  passed  his  exam- 
inations and  devoted  himself  to  foreign  service.  From 
attache  to  the  secretary  of  the  Legation  and  councilor 
of  the  Legation  in  Petersburg,  Teheran,  London,  Tan- 
giers,  Washington,  and  the  Hague,  are  the  various  stages 
of  his  success.  In  London  he  was  coworker  with  Baron 
von  Marschall  and  Lichnowsky  in  the  effort  to  bring 
about  a  German-English  understanding. 

During  the  war  he  obtained  his  first  responsible  post 
as  ambassador  to  the  Hague ;  here  he  plucked  his  laurel 
wreath  at  a  critical  time  and  was  appointed  ambassa- 
dor extraordinary  to  Turkey  in  place  of  Count  Wolff- 
Metternich.  He  was  recalled  by  Michaelis  in  1917,  who 
was  a  novice  in  foreign  affairs.  In  quick  diplomatic 
sequence  he  rushed  through  the  world,  saw  people  and 
nations,  and  in  time  learned  to  be  superior  to  the  situa- 
tion. This  was  an  advantage  and  a  disadvantage  at  the 
same  time.  An  advantage  in  that  he  knew  how  to  main- 
tain his  distance;  a  disadvantage  in  that  he  undervalued 
the  real,  the  important.  He  had  something  of  the  man- 
ner of  a  Grand  Seigneur  whether  he  wrote,  spoke  or 
acted.  Everything  fell  somewhat  superciliously  from 
his  lips.  This  was  not  foolish  pride  —  only  a  certain 
aristocratic  nonchalance  —  the  indifference  of  an  offi- 

227 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

cial  who  is  rich  and  independent  enough  to  throw  the 
whole  mess  overboard  if  they  don't  like  his  style.  His 
work  did  not  mean  so  much  to  him  that  it  could  make 
him  miserable.  He  did  not  struggle  with  principles  or 
powers.  HSTot  at  all  —  he  played  politics  —  in  all  seri- 
ousness perhaps  —  like  a  game  of  chess,  and  played 
with  the  men  who  stood  behind  them.  He  played  and 
lost  finally.  He  did  not  stake  his  name,  his  children, 
or  his  head  as  did  Bismarck,  who  was  acquainted  with 
the  idea  of  dying  on  a  scaffold.  He  played  for  the  mere 
charm  of  playing. 

The  will  to  power  which  lives  in  every  statesman 
springs  from  an  uplifting,  joyous  self-assertion  —  the 
desire  for  the  best  that  life  affords  —  mental  and  spirit- 
ual moments  that  mingle  with  the  intricate  waters  of 
esthetic  sensibility.  Herr  Kiihlmann  could  rummage 
for  hours  in  some  antiquity  shop,  searching  for  old  terra 
cottas,  bits  of  sculpture,  or  pictures,  but  when  the  hour 
struck  he  was  on  deck  surveying  the  situation  and  recog- 
nizing it  too,  with  keen  political  intuition.  His  poli- 
tics were  not  as  simple  as  2X2  =  4.  On  the  con- 
trary there  was  an  X  quantity.  This  unknown  quan- 
tity was  composed  of  two  factors:  when  he  took  over 
the  Foreign  Office  he  faced  a  number  of  settled  facts, 
one  of  which  was  that  the  German  official  peace  declara- 
tions enjoyed  but  little  credit  in  foreign  countries;  the 
other  was,  certain  influential  but  not  politically  respon- 

228 


RICHARD  VOX  KUHLMAXN 

sible  circles  hindered  the  development  of  his  political 
plans. 

One  must  take  these  facts  into  consideration  when 
criticizing  his  accomplishments.  He  had  the  right  in- 
sight for  the  fundamental  part  of  a  thing,  and  with  fine 
political  instinct  could  foresee  the  development  of  con- 
ditions, lie  soon  realized  that  compromise  alone  could 
rescue  Germany  and  all  Europe  from  a  catastrophe; 
he  also  saw  that  England  alone  held  the  key  to  the 
situation.  When  he  tried  to  grasp  it  —  when  instead 
of  that  silly  Song  of  Hate  he  recommended  a  confiden- 
tial sounding  of  the  possibilities  of  peace,  there  was  a 
regular  storm  of  disapproval  from  those  who  wished  to 
continue  the  war  until  a  decisive  victory  was  won,  cost 
what  it  may. 

And  Herr  Kuhlmann,  who  might  have  died  a  glorious 
death  defending  his  principles,  acted  like  a  schoolboy 
caught  stealing  jam.  He  began  to  explain  —  he  didn't 
mean  it  that  way,  but  so  and  so.  There  was  a  stammer- 
ing and  a  kotowing  before  Count  Westarp  after  the 
Chancellor  had  handed  the  Secretary  of  State  his  walk- 
ing papers.  This  was  how  he  died  —  a  faithful  servant 
of  the  powers  whose  nerves  were  stronger  than  his  own. 

At  the  conclusion  of  peace  with  Russia  in  Brest- 
Litowsk  did  he  follow  the  dictation  of  others?  What 
a  great  political  work  might  have  been  accomplished  — 
the  first  steps  toward  a  universal  and  honorable  com- 

229 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

promise.  This  great  opportunity  was  disregarded  for 
the  sake  of  a  bit  of  land,  and  the  problem  was  solved 
instead  with  tedious  conflicts  and  half  truths  such  as 
giving  the  right  of  self-government  if  they  would  sub- 
mit to  annexation,  etc.  The  Brest-Litowsk  peace  was 
a  botch,  a  hindrance  to  future  understanding,  a  retreat 
before  the  fist  of  General  Hoffmann.  The  Bucharest 
peace  was  more  conclusive  and  consequent  —  the  details 
of  the  treaty  with  Roumania  were  cleverly  thought  out ; 
Kiihlmann  was  not  blinded  by  hate  or  revenge  but  went 
to  work  soberly  and  unprejudiced  like  a  business  man. 

On  August  22,  1917,  in  his  speech  to  the  Reichstag 
as  representative  of  the  German  people  for  the  first 
time,  he  proclaimed  Might  and  Right  as  the  foundations 
of  German  politics. 

His  policy  rested  only  upon  the  one  pillar  —  Might 
—  in  Brest  as  well  as  in  Bucharest;  when  he  showed 
an  inclination  to  base  his  policy  upon  Right,  they  chased 
him  out.  Called  to  General  Headquarters  for  explana- 
tion, he  ran  against  a  prejudice,  a  mood  that  was  like 
coming  out  of  the  hot  sun  into  an  ice  cellar. 

Thereupon  he  sat  himself  down  and  wrote  out  his 
resignation.  The  fourth  Secretary  of  State  since  the 
war  began  now  entered  upon  his  duties:  Jagow,  Zim- 
mermann,  Kiihlmann,  and  now  Admiral  von  Hintze. 


XXXII 

PAUL  FUHRMANN 

After  the  collapse  of  Billow's  block,  when  Center  and 
Conservatives  paired  off,  the  National  Liberal  party, 
the  middle  piece  of  the  block,  swayed  toward  the  Left. 
War  to  the  knife  was  declared  against  the  Landowner's 
League,  three  representatives  whose  leanings  toward  the 
right  were  well  known,  were  thrown  out  of  the  party. 
In  this  way  Count  Oriola  and  Baron  Heyl  zu  Herrn- 
sheim,  the  leather  king  of  Worms,  were  thrown  into  the 
arms  of  the  Progressives.  Liberals  on  both  sides 
founded  the  Hansa  Bund  for  trade,  professions,  and 
industry ;  laid  a  trap,  not  unsuccessfully,  for  the  fragile 
Middle,  and  formed  a  league  for  the  approaching  elec- 
tions. Social  democracy  was  the  silent  partner  whom 
the  National  Liberals  had  to  call  on  in  their  battle 
against  the  Center,  although  one  really  could  not  speak 
to  them  on  the  street.  That  was  in  1912  in  Saar- 
brlicken;  and  now  Philipp  Scheidemann  was  chosen 
vice-president  of  the  new  Beichstag  with  the  assistance 
of  the  National  Liberal  party.  In  Rhineland-West- 
phalia,  where  the  National  Liberal  captains  of  industry 
(the  very  antipodes  of  social  democracy)   have  their 

231 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

seat,  they  wrinkled  their  brows  and  went  wild  when  Herr 
Scheidemann,  who  had  gotten  onto  the  president's  seat 
with  the  crutches  of  the  National  Liberal  party,  refused 
to  do  his  courtly  duties,  namely,  to  be  presented  to  the 
Kaiser.  That  was  an  impudence;  republican  anti-mon- 
archism,  etc.  The  German  kingdom  threatened  to  go 
to  pieces.  At  the  second  ballot  the  National  Liberals 
meekly  placed  their  votes  in  the  right  place  and  Scheide- 
mann  was  out  of  it.  Privy  Councillor  Dove  sat  in  his 
place  and  filled  the  vacancy  in  the  presidential  chair 
with  stoical  calm.  Two  Progressives  and  one  National 
Liberal  now  sat  there.  Three  representatives  from  two 
parties  which,  taken  both  together,  did  not  come  up  to 
the  numbers  of  the  Social  Democrats. 

The  capitalists  of  the  National  Liberals  kept  on  in- 
triguing and  trying  to  get  the  Hansa  Bund  on  their 
own  particular  track.  President  Riesser  gave  in  at 
first,  but  later  kicked  up  a  row  and  the  industrial  cap- 
tains gave  notice,  Dr.  Rotger  at  their  head.  They  were 
out.  This  was  the  first  wedge  in  the  Liberal  alliance. 
The  second  was  directed  against  the  National  Liberal 
party  itself. 

Who  was  at  the  bottom  of  this  politically  unclean 
business,  seeking  to  undermine  the  party  and  laying 
his  explosives  everywhere?  Surely  someone  who  be- 
longed to  the  right  wing  of  the  party  and  whose  interest 
it  was  to  make  that  wing  the  authoritative  one.     Far 

232 


PAUL  FUHRMAjSTN" 

from  it !  It  was  one  from  the  Left  side  who  bit  on  the 
capitalists'  bait :  Herr  Paul  Fuhrmann,  member  of  the 
Landtag  from  the  sixth  Arnsberger  voting  district,  gen- 
eral secretary  of  the  National  Liberal  party,  and  ac- 
quainted with  all  the  secrets  of  the  Berlin  central  bureau 
where  he  worked.  The  captains  of  industry  persuaded 
him,  the  confidential  man  of  the  whole  National  Liberal 
organization,  to  betray  the  party  in  order  to  form  an 
organization  of  their  own,  and  Herr  Fuhrmann,  who 
could  have  bought  a  baronial  estate  with  the  money  of 
his  former  wife,  accepted  the  offer ! 

After  this  step,  Dr.  Weber,  a  prominent  member  of 
the  business  committee  of  the  party,  wrote  on  the  28th 
of  June,  1912: 

"  I  can  think  of  no  greater  felony  than  that  a  man 
like  you,  who  has  really  been  kept  in  office  by  the  sup- 
port of  Bassermann  and  myself,  should  now  betray  us 
in  this  manner,  not  merely  in  order  to  ruin  the  position 
of  Herr  Bassermann  but  to  disrupt  the  whole  party 
which  I  have  tried  so  hard  to  keep  together. 

"  Immediately  after  my  arrival  in  Berlin  I  asked 
repeatedly  at  your  office  if  you  were  not  to  be  seen. 
Herr  Breithaupt  (the  other  general  secretary)  has  done 
the  same  but  always  in  vain.  Thereupon  I  questioned 
the  staff  and  discovered  the  following  facts : 

"  1.  Contrary  to  your  usual  habit  of  appearing  at 
eleven  or  twelve  o'clock  at  the  bureau,  since  taking  up 

233 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

the  work  of  the  new  organization  you  have  appeared 
for  days  and  weeks  as  early  as  nine  o'clock  every  morn- 
ing in  order  to  finish  work  for  the  other  league.  Was 
it  not  a  matter  of  course  that  you  should  give  up  your 
work  in  the  central  bureau  as  soon  as  you  had  accepted 


a  rival  undertaking? 

"  2.  For  days  you  have  been  studying  the  secret 
hook  which  is  really  only  for  the  use  of  the  business 
committee.  Until  you  accepted  the  new  position  you 
never  opened  this  book.  Since  then  you  have  questioned 
the  staff  repeatedly  in  the  attempt  to  obtain  exact  infor- 
mation in  regard  to  the  number  of  party  friends  and 
contributions. 

"  3.  You  have  occupied  the  ladies  in  the  office  with 
writing  out  addresses  which  were  to  serve  in  winning 
members  for  your  new  party. 

"  4.  You  tried  to  persuade  the  ladies  to  furnish  you 
with  still  more  addresses  until  Sunday  morning  when 
Herr  Kalthoff  returned  and  put  an  end  to  the  further 
work  of  the  ladies. 

"  5.  You  asked  for  and  received  the  organization's 
handbook  in  order  to  increase  your  address  material  for 
the  new  organization. 

"I  have  confirmed  these  facts  and  after  doing  so  I 
do  not  hesitate  to  utter  my  opinion  to  the  business 
committee.  I  maintain  that  your  actions  are  shameful, 
that  it  was  shocking  for  you  to  remain  in  our  bureau 

234 


PAUL  FUHKMANN 

after  being  employed  by  the  other.  I  have  protested 
against  this  and  am  ready  to  take  the  consequences  of 
my  actions." 

Was  this  sufficient  ?  !N"ot  for  Herr  Fuhrmann.  He 
continued  to  meet  Mr.  "Weber  as  if  nothing  had  hap- 
pened. Herr  Bassermann  called  his  conduct  the  "  most 
indecent  he  had  ever  seen  in  his  life."  Herr  Fuhrmann 
remained  a  member  of  the  party  and  representative  of 
the  people  in  the  Prussian  Landtag.  He  bought  off 
Breithaup's  son,  who  deserted  from  the  army,  for  eight 
hundred  marks.  He  did  this  for  intimate  reasons,  in 
memory  of  the  father  and  the  founding  of  the  old- 
national  liberal  organization.  He  should  really  destroy 
the  intimacies  of  his  political  doings  before  they  fall 
into  other  hands,  for  they  are  very  embarrassing. 
Old  Herr  Breithaup's  mouth  is  closed  forever;  his 
tongue  is  silenced  out  there  under  the  grass.  But 
there  is  much  more  that  could  be  said  —  personal 
things.  But  we  have  to  do  with  the  politician  not  with 
the  private  citizen. 

Herr  Fuhrmann's  actions  cannot  be  excused  on  the 
plea  of  youth.  He  has  long  since  passed  the  age  of 
foolishness.  After  leaving  the  Stolper  Gymnasium  he 
attended  the  Berlin  University  for  several  semesters, 
studying  history  and  the  history  of  art. 

When  the  war  broke  out  he  transformed  himself,  like 
a  good  many  German  industries.     Now  he  joined  that 

235 


LEADERS  OE  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

band  of  nameless  editors  in  order  to  fight  against  the 
National  Liberal  party  for  old-nationalism,  i.  e.,  for 
the  captains  of  industry.  The  Berliner  Neuesten  Nach- 
richten,  which  for  a  long  time  was  not  able  either 
to  live  or  to  die,  and  then  for  a  time  combined  with 
the  Deutsche  Zeitung,  offered  him  a  platform  for  his 
activities  after  it  had  been  financially  renovated.  The 
party  got  rid  of  the  Neuesten  Nachrichten  more  than 
once,  but  they  could  not  get  rid  of  Herr  Fuhrmann ;  he 
stuck  like  a  cocklebur  and  went  on  stirring  up  a  row 
against  the  party.  When  the  six  economic  leagues 
published  a  memorial  in  1915,  advocating  extensive 
annexations,  it  was  Fuhrmann  who  opened  his  mouth 
the  widest  and  wrote  and  carped  against  Bethmann- 
Hollweg,  who  kept  his  head  clear.  When  the  Father- 
land party  was  called  into  existence  he  was  one  of  the 
first  to  join  the  ranks  as  a  propagandist.  And  so  power- 
ful was  his  speech  in  a  Berlin  propaganda  meeting  that 
the  audience  resented  the  fact  that  some  war  invalids 
present,  dared  to  remonstrate,  and  beat  them  up.  Herr 
Fuhrmann,  who  let  himself  be  advertised  by  the  bureau 
of  the  Langtag,  Herr  Fuhrmann,  the  prototype  of  a 
home  warrior,  stood  on  the  platform  and  beamed  at  this 
scene.     It  was  the  triumph  of  his  life. 

In  the  Landtag  he  was  the  soul  of  the  right  wing 
of  the  National  Liberal  party.  He  and  Herr 
Hirsch,    the    Essen    general    secretary,    both    had    a 

236 


PAUL  FTTHKMAKN" 

finger  in  the  pie.  If  the  faction  showed  symptoms  of 
leaning  toward  the  left,  quickly  he  let  loose  the 
National  Liberal  industrials'  mutiny  against  the  liberal 
element.  Almost  always  he  succeeded,  but  fortunately, 
not  at  the  franchise  reform.  After  everything  had  been 
tried  in  vain  to  convert  them  all  to  the  franchise  reform, 
the  party  finally  separated  and  worked  independently: 
the  right  and  the  left.  And  Herr  Fuhrmann,  who  had 
once  in  Stendal  called  the  three-class  system  the  most 
shameful  he  could  think  of,  now  worked  in  the  front 
line  to  help  forge  the  franchise  compromise  with  the 
Conservatives.  Again  he  betrayed  the  party  and  with 
it  one  of  it's  most  prominent  members,  Dr.  Friedberg, 
vice-president  of  the  Prussian  State  Ministry  and 
champion  of  equal  suffrage,  and  when  the  great  pow- 
wow came,  all  were  suddenly  converted. 

This  is  the  way  Herr  Fuhrmann  looks.  Herr  Fuhr- 
mann,  who  likes  to  play  the  great  moralist,  whose 
speeches  drip  with  German  spirit,  with  German  char- 
acter, and  German  will  to  power. 


XXXIII 

GEORG  GRAF  VON  HERTLING 

Count  Hertling  was  called  to  the  head  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  his  seventy-fifth  year,  an  age  when  the  average 
official  has  retired  to  enjoy  his  pension  in  peace  and 
quiet.  "  If  I  have  decided  to  accept  the  difficult  and 
responsible  position  of  Imperial  Chancellor  in  these 
stormy  times/'  he  said  with  a  slight  tone  of  resignation, 
"  if  I  overlook  the  objection  to  my  age,  it  is  only  in  the 
conviction  that  it  is  my  duty  to  sacrifice  myself  for  my 
fatherland."  Only  he  who  is  above  ambition,  who 
realizes  that  we  are  not  in  this  world  to  live  for  our- 
selves but  to  live  for  others,  can  speak  in  this  manner. 
Once  before  in  1917,  when  Bethmann-lTollweg  was 
forced  out  of  office,  Count  Hertling  was  called  upon  to 
take  his  place,  but  he  refused  on  account  of  his  age  and 
the  fact  that  there  were  others  eagerly  waiting  for  the 
post.  But  the  experiment  with  someone  from  the 
"  bullrun  of  bureaucracy,"  to  quote  Bismarck,  was  not 
a  success ;  the  entre  act  with  Michaelis  somewhat  tragi- 
comically  came  to  a  surprisingly  quick  end.  This  time 
Count  Hertling  felt  obliged  to  accept.  It  was  a  great 
sacrifice  for  a  man  of  his  age  to  make,  physically  as 
well  as  psychologically. 

238 


GEOUG  GKAF  VON  IIERTLING 

He  was  fragile  and  so  shortsighted  that  he  had  to 
be  accompanied  when  he  went  out.  One  forgot  his 
bodily  weaknesses  when  one  heard  him  speaking,  flu* 
ently  and  brilliantly,  in  the  Reichstag.  Life,  energy, 
and  will,  flared  up  in  this  insignificant-looking  little 
man,  and  his  eyes  began  to  sparkle  behind  the  thick 
spectacles.  A  tinge  of  red  flushed  the  small,  white- 
bearded,  pointed  face  that  looked  so  much  like  that  of 
a  mouse.  I  once  asked  a  well-known  foreign  diplomat 
what  impression  Count  Hertling  made  upon  him.  He 
answered,  smiling:     "A  charming  old  man." 

"And  what  did  you  get  out  of  him  ? "  I  continued. 

"  He  told  me  a  lot,  but  he  always  got  around  the 
things  I  really  wanted  to  know." 

He  is  not  one  you  can  entice  on  thin  ice — not  one  who 
heedlessly  announces  his  determinations.  If  you  observe 
him  at  a  sitting  in  the  Bundesrat  you  will  probably 
think  he  is  too  tired  to  follow  the  proceedings.  Silently 
he  sits  there  seemingly  sunk  in  thought.  But  whenever 
the  thread  of  discourse  threatens  to  go  astray  he  quickly 
interferes ;  in  clear,  pointed  words  he  brings  the  theme 
back  to  the  point. 

He  is  thoroughly  conservative  but  conditions  have 
driven  him  to  opposition.  Even  when  he  had  reached 
the  highest  rung  of  the  ladder  he  abandoned  the  views 
of  yesterday  and  to-day,  and  not  without  hesitation  he 
ushered  in  a  part  of  new  German  politics. 

239 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

If  I  am  to  paint  a  spiritual  portrait  of  him  I  must 
not  loosely  string  a  few;  superficial,  political  events 
together,  but  must  begin  at  the  beginning  of  his  mental 
and  spiritual  development,  with  philosophy,  which 
saturates  his  whole  political  doings. 

He  began  to  teach  in  the  university  at  Bonn  in  1867, 
but  got  no  further  than  lecturer.  Thirteen  years  later 
he  became  professor,  but  only  under-professor,  although 
he  had  written  a  number  of  significant  works  on  phi- 
losophy. But  in  this  period  of  Kultur  war  he  was  a 
suspect  —  he  held  fast  to  the  teachings  of  the  Vatican 
and  was  faithful  to  the  church  in  her  battle  with  the 
state.  Later,  as  professor  of  philosophy  in  Munich, 
he  was  less  a  pioneer  of  new  systems  than  a  historian, 
a  critic  of  the  old.  His  dogmatic,  theological  narrow- 
ness forbade  it.  Catholic  Christianity  places  a  super- 
mundane, personal  God  at  the  beginning  of  everything. 
The  world  is  an  act  of  his  creative  all-power,  and  the 
predestination  of  mankind  lies  in  the  Beyond.  This 
transcendental  problem  is  already  settled  and  philoso- 
phy has  nothing  to  do  but  formulate  it,  as  Hertling 
once  said  in  an  article  on  the  church-father,  Augus- 
tine. He  settled  this  affair  with  Plato  and  the  !N"eo- 
platonists,  and  occupied  himself  with  Aristotle. 

If  you  wish  to  understand  Hertling  as  a  politician 
you  must  not  overlook  this  Catholic-scholastic  education 
which  tends  toward  a  smooth  and  supple  dialectic. 

240 


GEORG  GRAE  YON  HERTLING 

While  still  a  lecturer  at  Bonn  in  1875,  lie  was  a 
successful  candidate  for  the  Reichstag  and  fought  with 
Windhorst  and  Reichensperger  against  the  Iron  Chan- 
cellor, who  was  trying  to  break  the  backbone  of  the 
Center  and  the  Vatican.  A  year  later  he  helped  to 
found  the  Gurres  society  in  Coblenz  for  the  study  of 
science,  including  political  and  national,  in  Catholic 
Germany.  With  fine  feeling  for  the  needs  of  the  people, 
he  paid  especial  attention  to  social  politics.  This  was 
his  specialty  at  that  time.  More  than  once  Bismarck 
invited  him  to  a  conference  on  social  matters.  In  1883 
he  bared  his  heart  to  him  on  the  question  of  the  unhappy 
Kultur  war.  Clever  and  tactful  Herding  met  him  half 
way,  assuring  him  that  even  the  Center  representatives 
longed  for  the  harmony  of  a  church  and  political  peace. 
Gradually  Center  and  Chancellor  were  again  at  sword's 
points  over  the  new  tariff  and  economic  politics.  This 
noisy  clash  ceased  at  times,  but  behind  the  political 
scenes  the  Catholic  church  did  not  budge  an  inch.  In 
the  acts  of  the  Gorres  society  one  can  read  the  follow- 
ing: "The  state  is  naturally  subordinate  to  the  tem- 
porary and  beneficial  organization  of  the  church." 

Notwithstanding  this  the  Center  continued  to  be  on 
friendly  terms  with  free-thinkers  and  Social  Democrats 
—  the  most  pronounced  representatives  of  tolerance  — 
with  Richter  and  Grillenberger  —  in  order  to  fight 
Bismarck's  exceptional  law-making. 

241 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 

After  Lieber's  death  Hertling  became  chief  of  the 
Center  faction,  party  diplomat,  and  let  the  Government 
buy  his  approval  for  the  military  and  naval  proposi- 
tions. This  cool  business  policy  which  even  Biilow  had 
not  ventured  on  in  the  beginning,  brought  the  Center 
the  gradual  rescindment  of  the  Jesuit  laws,  but  it  later 
led  to  a  rupture  between  them  and  the  Government,  in 
1906.  This  did  not  last  long  —  the  conservative-liberal 
block  went  to  pieces  on  the  finance  reform  bilL 
Stronger  than  ever  the  Center  party  emerged  from  its 
temporary  isolation.  Just  at  the  right  moment  they 
could  throw  their  political  weight  in  the  scales  when 
Pope  Pius  X  issued  his  challenge  to  all  modern  move- 
ments which  threatened  to  interfere  with  the  revenues 
of  the  state.  Hertling' s  role  as  intermediary  was  not 
small.  In  1912,  when  Podewil's  ministry  in  Bavaria 
went  to  pieces  in  a  conflict  with  the  Center,  Hert- 
ling was  trusted  with  the  formation  of  a  new  cabi- 
net. The  Bavarian  Center  majority  became  an  official 
government's  party  over  night.  Thus  the  first  parlia- 
mentary regime  entered  the  German  federal  states 
although  none  of  the  participators  liked  to  admit  it. 

Hertling  now  occupied  a  responsible  position;  he 
automatically  became  chairman  of  the  Bundesrat  com- 
mission for  foreign  affairs,  and  obtained  a  deep  insight 
into  international  politics.  Bavaria's  national  influence 
grew  tremendously;  it  had  never  been  so  strong  in  the 

242 


GEORG  GRAF  YON  HERTLING 

past  as  in  the  five  years  ending  1917.  Bethmann-, 
Hollweg  depended  upon  his  support  and  it  was  but 
natural  he  should  be  thought  of  when  the  Chancellor 
resigned. 

He  did  not  let  the  Kaiser  appoint  him  to  the  chancel- 
lorship directly,  but  got  in  touch  with  the  majority; 
parties  —  the  Center,  Independents,  and  Social  Demo- 
crats. He  agreed  upon  a  positive  working  program  and 
called  leading  parliamentarians  into  the  Government 
from  these  parties  who  had  once  formed  an  opposing 
majority  in  the  Reichstag.  This  was  the  first  step 
toward  a  parliamentary  system.  This  was  his  perma- 
nent service  to  the  nation.  He  remained  true  to  the 
program  agreed  upon.  In  the  midst  of  the  hottest 
battle  for  equal  suffrage  in  Prussia  he  declared  he 
would  stand  or  fall  with  this  question.  But  faithful- 
ness did  not  win  out.  Political  life  began  to  slump  — 
the  suffrage  reform  did  not  budge  from  the  spot,  mili- 
tary rulers  became  more  and  more  impudent,  the  major- 
ity began  to  grumble,  the  Social  Democrats  announced 
their  mistrust,  the  progressives  withdrew  their  support, 
and  at  last  the  Center  dropped  him.  The  Chancellor 
went  to  Headquarters  and  came  back  a  dead  man.  The 
Kaiser  accepted  his  resignation.  The  way  was  clear 
for  popular  Government;  the  historical  document  was 
signed  by  Count  Hertling  himself.  He  made  a  brilliant 
retreat. 

243 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

He  handled  foreign  politics  as  lie  had  once  handled 
philosophy:  fatalistically;  he  bent  to  the  powers  that 
were  stronger  than  he.    Originally  he  attempted  to  take 
the  German  answer  to  the  Pope's  note  as  a  basis  for  his 
war  and  peace  policy.     This  answer  was  a  relinquish- 
ment of  thoughts  of  annexation  or  compensation.    How- 
ever, he  slowly  adapted  himself,  under  all  sorts  of  rhe- 
torical reservations,  to  the  new  military  atmosphere 
which  daily  and  hourly  surrounded  him.    He  forgot  the 
question   of   St.    Augustine,    whom  he   had   formerly 
praised,  forgot  the  remark  of  the  church-father  in  his 
"  God's  Nation,"  a  treatise  on  the  Roman  Empire ;  if 
it  were  really  great  or  praiseworthy  to  sow  war  without 
end,  to  subjugate  independent  peoples,  and  out  of  this 
wreckage  of  destroyed  freedom  and  independence,  to 
erect  a  mighty  monument  to  ambition?     Step  by  step 
he  retreated  before  those  who  believed  Germany's  future 
to  be  insured  only  by  annexations.     It  cost  him  much 
trouble  to  cover  this  retreat  with  ambiguous  phrases. 
In  the  shape  of  a  German-Russian  peace  treaty  he  left  a 
legacy    for    the    German    people    whose    far-reaching 
political  significance  will  only  be  realized  later. 

He  did  not  fail  to  make  attempts  to  come  to  a  peace- 
ful understanding  with  the  Western  powers  but  he 
succeeded  no  better  than  his  predecessors.  He  waited 
for  things  to  approach  him  in  order  to  reduce  possibili- 
ties of  friction  to  the  lowest  point.    He  remained  quiet 

244 


GEORG  GRAF  VON  HERTLING 

and  became  more  and  more  the  executor  of  other  peo- 
ple's wills.  If  he  accomplished  anything  at  all  by 
opposing  the  military  authorities,  seen  in  the  light  of 
day,  it  was  but  a  meager  compromise.  The  sliest  fox 
would  rather  have  a  bird  in  hand  than  two  in  the  bush. 
And  so  he  sat  behind  the  large  mirrors  in  the  aristo- 
cratic, baroque,  dreamy,  old  Chancellor  palace  gazing 
at  the  round  bed  of  rhododendrons,  roses,  and  pansies, 
and  waited  for  the  long-desired  guest  who  must  come 
sometime  —  for  peace. 

But  Count  Hertling  waited  in  vain.     He  died  in 
Munich  before  the  guest  arrived. 


XXXIV 

EOBERT  FRIEDBEEG 

One  who  has  sold  his  soul  to  politics  is  Robert 
Friedberg,  a  professor,  national  economist,  parliamen- 
tarian by  profession,  and  for  a  year  minister  without 
portfolio.  He  stands  in  the  frame  of  Xational  Liber- 
alism, a  changing  framework  ?  !No,  a  one-sided  exclusive 
picture  that  sits  fast  in  its  frame. 

Dr.  Friedberg,  who  studied  in  Leipzig  and  lectured 
in  Halle  on  political  science,  did  not  make  much  of  a 
record  scientifically.  That  was  not  his  territory.  He 
wrote  one  or  two  books  on  exchange  dues  and  public 
finances.  But  he  had  been  politically  active  for  many 
years.  In  1886,  at  the  age  of  thirty-five,  he  entered  the 
House  of  Representatives  and  never  came  out  of  it. 
Halle  sent  him  first  and  then  Remscheid-Lennep.  Only 
once,  and  that  temporarily,  did  he  enter  the  Reichstag. 
It  was  the  year  when  Prince  Hohenlohe's  tired  hands 
held  the  reins  of  state. 

He  has  a  stately  appearance,  is  wholly  professor,  has 
a  small,  square-cut,  grayish  beard,  wears  spectacles  on 
a  rather  thick  nose,  has  a  thick  head  of  hair,  reddish 
cheeks,  and  a  slender  body  on  elastic  legs.    He  is  almost 

246 


ROBERT  FRIEDBERG 

always  clothed  in  a  frock  coat  and  yet  there  is  no  trace 
of  formality  about  him.  He  is  always  friendly,  always 
courteous  —  even  gives  his  hand  to  Adolph  Hoffmann 
in  greeting,  his  antipode  from  the  extreme  Left.  He  is 
always  on  deck  when  the  political  oar  is  to  be  shoved 
onto  the  right  track.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  hear  him  speak ; 
without  a  trace  of  pathos,  always  objective,  his  words 
are  like  a  string  of  pearls.  He  is  ready  of  wit  and  not 
to  be  discomposed. 

He  is  a  piece  of  good  National  Liberal  tradition.  His 
interests  are  concentrated  exclusively  on  Prussia.  He 
has  always  been  a  master  at  this.  The  party  division 
was  a  good  one:  Bassermann  controlled  the  kingdom, 
Eriedberg  the  state  of  Prussia.  One  did  not  get  in  the 
other's  range.  Before  he  took  up  a  parliamentary 
career  he  had  already  done  service  for  the  party.  On 
party  days  he  was  the  mediator  and  knew  how  to  win 
people  with  his  friendly  manner.  Even  to-day  he  is 
above  everything  else  a  tactician.  In  the  Landtag,  when 
the  budget  estimates  were  discussed,  his  speeches  were 
always  the  piece  de  resistance.  He  fairly  swelled  in 
finance  and  tax  questions,  carefully  touching  upon  the 
railroad  compensation  funds  which  had  so  often  helped 
the  budget  on  its  legs,  and  disapproving  of  the  addi- 
tional income-tax  provision,  and  the  policy  of  the  minis- 
ter of  finance. 

He  did  not  try  to  conceal  the  fact  that  he  was  a 

247 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

professional  politician,  since  he  laid  his  professorship 
on  the  shelf.  In  his  great  speech  against  the  Upper 
House  in  March,  1917,  the  day  of  the  Russian  revolu- 
tion, when  he  recommended  a  reform  of  the  First 
Chamber,  he  also  ironically  referred  to  a  reproach 
against  professional  parliamentarism  which  had  been 
dropped  by  the  Conservatives :  "  The  remarks  about 
professional  parliamentarians  have  a  comical  as  well  as 
a  serious  side,"  he  said.  "  What  advantages  has  a  par- 
liamentarian in  Germanv  ?    I  know  of  but  one  and  that 

t/ 

is  the  consciousness  of  having  fulfilled  his  duties  to  the 
best  of  his  ability.  When  a  man,  financially  indepen- 
dent, takes  upon  himself  the  burdens  of  Parliament  as 
his  life's  task,  when  he  tries  to  keep  up  the  traditions 
of  the  House  and  relieve  his  overburdened  colleagues 
who  have  other  professions,  that  effort  deserves  some- 
thing better  than  a  mere  mockery  of  professional  par- 
liamentarism." And  then  as  a  counter  blow  he  said 
that  the  statements  made  by  the  House  were  not  com- 
patible with  the  constitution.  Under  a  roar  of  applause 
from  the  left  of  the  House  he  concluded  his  speech 
with  the  remark :  "  When  one  takes  the  widest  con- 
ception possible  of  the  Government,  including  the  law- 
making department,  then  one  may  say  that  all  people 
have  the  Government  and  the  Parliament  they  deserve. 
But  the  Prussian  people  really  have  not  deserved  an 
Upper  Chamber  of  this  sort." 

248 


ROBERT  FRIEDBERG 

In  the  meantime  Dr.  Friedberg  has  become  minister, 
vice-president  of  the  Prussian  ministry,  the  first  par- 
liamentary minister  in  Prussian  Germany  to  retain  his 
representative  mandate  and  the  first  to  leave  the  Gov- 
ernment table  and  give  his  vote  with  his  party  comrades. 
He  was  really  a  reform-minister,  the  franchise  hero. 
But  all  his  versatility  and  business  knowledge  were  not 
enough  to  budge  the  Right ;  they  were  obdurate  and  the 
right  wing  of  the  National  Liberals,  the  Fuhrmann  and 
Ilirsch  consorts,  gave  up  their  friendship  for  him  at 
the  command  of  the  capitalists.  In  the  battle  for  equal 
suffrage  he  passed  from  one  defeat  to  another.  The 
Landtag  alone  rejected  the  equality  principle  twice  in 
the  commission  and  four  times  in  the  plenum.  But 
Herr  Friedberg  still  hoped,  although,  naturally,  the 
Upper  Chamber  refused  to  follow.  Was  he  waiting  for 
a  miracle?  Why  did  he  not  dissolve  the  House  and 
write  out  a  new  election  asked  the  Left.  But  the 
miracle  came  —  when  it  was  too  late.  Friedberg's 
optimism  was  justified. 

The  military  situation  changed  all  at  once  to  Ger- 
many's disadvantage.  Bulgaria  surrendered,  we  asked 
for  a  truce,  and  the  Conservatives  gave  in.  All  resist- 
ance against  the  franchise  bill  was  given  up.  The  Up- 
per Chamber  and  the  Landtag  swallowed  it  as  best  they 
might.    On  the  other  hand,  Dr.  Friedberg  and  the  Left 

249 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

with,  him,  crawled  under  the  caudinian  yoke  of  the  Cen- 
ter's denominational  "assurance." 

He  should  not  have  been  a  National  Liberal.  In 
1892  the  party  smothered  Baron  von  Zedlitz's  Prussian 
Folks  school  law.  Fourteen  years  later,  under  Fried- 
berg,  they  participated  in  the  confessionalizing  of  the 
Folks  school  which,  according  to  the  will  of  the  Center, 
were  now  to  have  a  constitutional  guarantee.  In  the 
franchise  question  he  went  another  way.  Originally 
he  was  opposed  to  the  thought  of  equal  suffrage  and 
was  enthusiastic  for  a  plural  system  according  to  age, 
education,  and  property.  Then  he  condensed  the  direct 
and  secret  vote  and  finally,  under  the  pressure  of  war 
conditions,  he  was  converted  to  equal  suffrage.  For- 
merly the  opponent  of  a  parliamentary  system,  he  now 
became  a  parliamentarian  indeed.  The  right  wing  of 
the  party  could  not  forget  this.  What  did  all  his  ser- 
vices count  for  now ;  they  despised  him  as  a  deserter. 

To  be  sure  he  was  always  rather  a  suspect.  In  the 
quarrel  of  the  old-National  Liberals  with  the  rest  of 
the  party  he  stuck  to  the  Central  organization  but  had 
a  smile  of  forgiveness  for  the  young  Liberals.  lie 
understood  how  to  rise  above  petty  differences;  after 
the  death  of  Bassermann  he  became  chairman  of  the 
Central  committee  and  in  time  he  was  the  party  trade- 
mark. It  was  due  to  his  agitation  that  the  model  press 
bureau  was  founded,   that  yearly  spread  millions   of 

250 


ROBERT  FRIEDBERG 

National  Liberal  papers  among  the  voting  masses.  He 
played  party  politics  like  a  piano,  in  sharps  and  in  flats, 
runs  and  trills;  just  as  quickly  with  the  right  in  the 
bass  as  with  the  left  in  the  treble,  but  he  was  long  in 
finding  the  one  melody  which  meant  the  realization  of 
equal  suffrage  in  Prussia. 

In  the  fall  of  1918,  he  appeared  in  Prince  Max's 
war  cabinet  as  the  confidential  man  of  the  National 
Liberals.  Then  he  disappeared  in  the  deluge  like  all 
the  rest  of  his  colleagues,  when  the  revolutionary  waves 
broke  over  Germany.  But  he  emerged  again  as  a  demo- 
cratic candidate  at  the  election  for  the  National 
Assembly  after  the  National  Liberal  party  had  gone  to 
pieces,  was  elected,  and  became  the  leader  of  the  party. 


XXXV 

HANS  GEORG  VON  BEERFELDE 

One  day  in  the  summer  of  1917,  my  telephone  rang 
at  an  unusual  hour. 

"  Dombrowski  speaking,"  I  answered. 

"  Beerfelde,"  replied  a  deep  voice,  "  Captain  von 
Beerfelde." 

I  had  never  heard  the  name  before. 

"  Could  I  see  you  in  regard  to  a  pressing  matter  ? 
It  is  very  important." 

"  Certainly,  but  what  is  it  about  ?  " 

"  Something  must  be  done.  Anything.  It  is  high 
time." 

"  Yes,  but  what  am  I  to  understand  by  that  ?  " 

"  The  whole  political  situation,  the  absolute  necessity 
of  an  immediate  peace ;  the  consequences  of  the  Russian 
revolution —  We  must  speak  of  these  things  and 
decide  upon  some  sort  of  action." 

"  May  I  ask  who  is  at  the  back  of  all  this  ?  " 

"  I  am.  The  Chancellor  is  informed  of  the  state  of 
affairs ;  we  must  make  it  clear  to  the  military  authori- 
ties. A  number  of  other  gentlemen  have  already 
promised  to  come  to  the  Cafe  Rheingold  to  discuss 

252 


hans  georg  yon  beerfelde 

the  situation :  Privy  Councillor  X,  Director  Y,  Editor 
Z,  etc." 

"  All  right,  I'll  come." 

Punctually  I  arrived  at  the  Rheingold  on  the  after- 
noon of  the  same  day.  When  I  entered  the  cozy  little 
front  room  an  officer  and  a  very  well-known  scholar  were 
already  seated  in  the  leather  chairs  and  were  in  the 
midst  of  a  lively  conversation.  The  officer  jumped  up 
hastily  and  impulsively  offered  his  hand. 

"  Beerfelde  is  mv  name." 

"  I  am  Dombrowski." 

He  was  a  dapper,  erect,  somewhat  undersized  officer, 
with  the  Iron  Cross,  first  class,  under  his  left  breast, 
an  intelligent  face,  brown  and  weather-beaten,  a  short 
mustache,  thick,  copper-colored  hair,  trimmed  like  a 
hedge,  as  if  the  barber  had  imagined  himself  to  be  a 
Le  Notre,  the  celebrated  gardener  of  the  baroque 
period;  heavy  browns  and  — such  eyes!  Could  they 
bore  through  one  at  a  glance  ?  They  were  the  eyes  of  a 
man  accustomed  to  command,  a  man  used  to  action  — 
or  were  they  only  the  eyes  of  a  man  carried  away  by  an 
idea? 

A  curious  mixture,  aristocratic,  energetic,  dauntless. 

Soon  there  were  ten  or  twelve  of  us,  twelve  men  whose 
names  were  all  well-known  in  Berlin  intellectual  circles. 

The  Geheimrat  called  the  meeting  to  order  at  the 
request  of  Captain  von  Beerfelde.     He  excused  the 

253 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

absence  of  two  professors,  and  gave  a  short  outline  of 
the  political  situation.  It  was  about  the  time  of  the 
secret  sittings  of  the  Reichstag  committees,  during  the 
weeks  when  the  battle  against  Bethmann-Hollweg  raged 
its  worst  and  the  peace  resolution  was  nearing  its 
fulfillment. 

One  groped  in  political  darkness  and  the  Geheimrat 
declared  another  winter  of  war  must  be  prevented  by 
all  means. 

"  Something  must  be  done,"  the  Captain  completed, 
requesting  those  present  to  make  some  suggestions. 

An  embarrassing  pause  ensued.  They  looked  at  one 
another  almost  beseechingly. 

Gradually  a  discussion  arose  but  it  crept  along 
tediously.  One  suggested  informing  Hindenburg  and 
Ludendorff  of  the  exact  state  of  affairs  at  home.  Of 
course  the  Kaiser  should  know,  too.  They  thought 
Bethmann-Hollweg  was  already  informed.  Herr  von 
Harnack  and  the  Captain  had  spoken  with  him  the  day 
before. 

The  others  objected  to  this  procedure.  How  could 
one  approach  Hindenburg,  and  moreover  what  was  one 
to  say  positively  if  one  did  get  an  audience  ?  Another 
pause. 

The  whole  discussion  seemed  at  an  end. 

One  skeptic  doubted  the  whole  story. 

At  this  moment  the  Captain  sprung  up,  seized  his 

254 


HANS  GEORG  VON"  BEERFELDE 

portfolio  and  notebook,  pounded  the  table  with  his 
fist,  and  cried  out :  "  I  see  the  gentlemen  will  only  talk. 
I  am  going  to  act.  If  I  have  to  stake  my  head  for  it ! 
Good-day,  gentlemen !  "  And  he  marched  out  with 
heavy  tread.  For  a  time  we  stared  at  one  another  in 
painful  silence.  Finally  our  gaze  concentrated  on  the 
scholar. 

He  was  embarrassed.  "  I  perceive,"  he  began  at  last, 
"  that  you  wish  some  sort  of  explanation  from  me.  But 
I  cannot  give  you  one.  The  Captain  visited  me  yester- 
day, urged  my  attendance  at  this  meeting  in  the  light 
of  a  moral  duty,  and  mentioned  the  names  of  other 
gentlemen  who  would  be  present.  I  did  not  think  I 
could  very  well  refuse  under  the  circumstances.  He  is, 
after  all,  a  man  of  position:  soldier,  Iron  Cross,  first 
class  officer  of  the  Staff,  noble  .  .  .  Well,  I  came 
without  knowing  what  he  really  wanted  of  me." 

A  second  repeated  the  same  story :  sudden  visit,  Iron 
Cross,  noble,  officer  of  the  Staff,  etc. 

The  third,  the  fourth,  and  all  the  rest. 

Everybody  laughed  but  nevertheless  felt  somewhat 
ashamed. 

Weeks  passed  by;  the  Captain's  name  slipped  from 
my  mind.  Suddenly  I  received  a  visit  from  him.  In 
a  few  words  he  recalled  the  meeting  at  the  Rheingold 
and  asked  if  I,  too,  had  shaken  my  head  over  him. 

"  No,"  I  replied. 

255 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 


« 


Why  not?" 

"  You  were  the  only  one  who  really  wanted  to  act ; 
the  others  did  not  know  what  to  say.  I  was  impressed 
by  the  tragedy  of  the  moment  although  I  did  not  know 
what  you  really  wanted  of  me." 

"  I  trust  you.  I  have  new  evidence  that  something 
must  be  done.  Do  you  know  the  Prince  Lichnowsky 
pamphlet  ?  " 

"  I  have  heard  of  it." 

"  Would  you  like  to  have  one  ?  " 

"  Yes.    Where  did  you  get  it,  Captain  ?  " 

"  Someone  loaned  it  to  me.  I  said  to  myself:  This 
must  be  made  public  so  that  everyone  will  have  a  chance 
to  know  the  truth." 

"  Yes,  but  all  that  is  very  serious    .    .    ." 

"  I  have  twelve  copies.    Here  is  one." 

Once  again  I  saw  Herr  von  Beerfelde  but  only  for  a 
moment.  A  few  weeks  later  I  was  called  before  the 
court  and  requested  to  give  up  the  Lichnowsky  booklet. 
I  had  to  sign  an  affidavit  that  I  had  not  spread  any 
copies  of  this  book  nor  had  any  printed.  All  the  others 
who  possessed  a  copy  were  haled  into  court  and  they 
thought  they  had  all  the  copies  at  last  but  —  the  last 
man  summoned  confessed  that  he  had  ordered  and  dis- 
tributed about  five  hundred  copies.  They  had  gone  the 
way  of  all  other  disclosures. 

In  the  meantime  Beerfelde  came  into  conflict  with 

256 


BANS   GEOBG  VOtf  BEERFELDE 

his  superiors,  who  were  supposed  to  have  forbidden  him 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  politics.  He  was  court- 
martialed,  but  because  there  was  no  such  order  to  be 
found,  they  had  to  let  him  go.  While  he  was  in  prison 
awaiting  trial,  he  brooded  more  than  ever.  Erom  out 
his  world  of  thought  came  the  incessant  cry :  "  You 
must  act !  Do  something !  "  He  wrote  to  Ludendorff* 
and  Hindenburg :  "  Germany's  fate  during  and  after 
the  war  depends  largely  upon  whether  we  truthfully 
represent  a  truthful  cause.  Although  we  win  the  battle 
we  are  preparing  the  way  for  our  own  downfall  in  any 
other  case;  we  would  never  fulfill  our  mission  in  the 
world.  With  truth  alone  can  we  conquer  the  enemies 
at  home  and  abroad."  A  grown-up  child  —  an  enthu- 
siast who  sees  life  only  from  the  perspective  of  a  cloud- 
dweller  ?  Perhaps.  But  at  the  same  time  this  mystic 
dreamer  is  a  man  who  must  and  will  act. 

His  goal  is  not  clear;  it  is  blurred  and  misty.  In 
this  respect  he  differs  from  Thomas  Stockmann,  whom 
the  "  compact  majority  "  called  an  enemy  of  the  people. 
He  knew  exactly  how  to  convert  truth  to  deeds. 

But  Beerfelde  danced  around  like  a  will-o'-the-wisp. 
He  did  not  know  exactly  what  he  should  do,  and  finally 
stood  on  the  periphery  of  Independent  Social  Democ- 
racy, no  began  to  form  connections  that  brought  him 
under  suspicion  of  having  had  something  to  do  with 
the  Berlin  strike  movement  at  the  end  of  January, 

257 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

1918.  Compromising  letters,  circulars  and  papers 
were  found  and  confiscated.  In  short,  he  was  charged 
with  having  transgressed  paragraph  89  of  the  criminal 
code.     Treason    .    .    . 

Is  the  world  foolish,  or  is  he  who  was  led  by  the 
purest  humanitarian  motives,  only  to  be  helplessly 
entangled  in  life's  net?  Do  we  damn  Michael  Kohl- 
haas,  who  was  similarly  tortured  by  the  necessity  for 
action  —  who,  seeking  justice,  went  to  extremes  and  at 
last  tripped  over  himself? 

To  the  judge,  the  sentence.  And  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
private  citizen  not  to  interfere  with  the  proceedings  of 
the  law. 

This  article  was  written  at  the  beginning  of  April, 
1918,  but  the  Commandant  forbade  its  publication.  It 
would  have  been  too  awful  if  the  world  discovered  that 
an  officer  no  longer  believed  in  the  imperialistic- 
militaristic  ideals. 

ISTow  that  the  revolutionary  wave  has  cast  Captain 
von  Beerfelde,  a.  D  (ausser  Dienst  —  out  of  service)  to 
the  top,  making  him  for  a  few  days  one  of  the  most 
important  men  of  Germany,  I  again  fetch  out  my  manu- 
script together  with  a  whole  mountain  of  Beerfelde 
material  —  articles  and  letters  to  the  Kaiser,  to  the 
Crown  Prince,  to  Hindenburg,  etc. 

When  the  Captain  returned  from  the  field,  over- 
irritated  and  excited,  his  eyes  fell  upon  the  yet  unknown 

258 


HANS  GEORG  VON  BEERFELDE 

Lichnowsky  memorial.  He  had  seen  the  unveiled  image 
of  truth  and  it  scorched  his  soul.  In  his  despair  —  in 
the  hope  that  all  they  had  said  was  not  true, —  the 
Licknowskys,  Dr.  Muehlon,  Fernau,  and  the  others  — 
he  wrote  to  the  Kaiser  on  Easter  Sunday,  1918:  "  In 
the  name  of  a  betrayed  people  I  demand  that  every 
document  and  agreement  made  between  us  and  Austria- 
Hungary  before  the  war  and  which  do  not  appear  in 
our  white  book,  now  be  made  public.    I  demand    .    .    ." 

ISLoie  shocking  than  all  these  attempts  to  clear  the 
situation  was  his  legal  complaint  made  on  the  11th  of 
September  while  awaiting  trial  in  the  Berlin  military 
prison.     Out  of  a  martyred  soul  welled  forth  this  cry: 

"  Those  who  know  me,  all  my  former  superior  officers 
and  comrades,  can  testify  that  I  have  always  stood  for 
a  clear  and  clean  situation,  that  I  have  hated  every 
lazy  compromise  no  matter  what  advantages  it  might 
bring  me. 

"  I  want  nothing  more  than  that  truth  and  justice,  the 
greatest  of  all  powers,  should  build  an  open  road  for  our 
army  and  our  people  toward  a  blessed  and  noble  future. 
According  to  the  Bible:  'Justice  lifteth  up  a  people 
but  the  sins  of  injustice  casteth  them  down ! '  Why 
are  not  such  words  heeded  ?  Have  we  the  right  to  call 
ourselves  a  Christian  folk,  a  Christian  State?  I  know 
that  everyone  of  my  subordinates  in  the  field  would 
subscribe  to  these  words.    There  will  be  great  surprises 

259 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY     , 

in  store  for  those  who  do  not  follow  a  policy  of  truth 
when  the  army  returns  from  the  field.  The  best  ele- 
ments of  this  army  are  filled  with  a  ruthless  desire  for 
truth.  For  truth  alone  do  German  men  shed  their 
blood.  Everything  else  will  be  ruthlessly  cast  aside. 
You  here  at  home  should  take  heed.  When  I  left  my 
battalion  I  promised  my  men  if  I  were  no  longer  needed 
at  the  front  I  would  do  my  best  to  provide  'good 
quarters'  at  home.  And  I  intend  to  keep  this  promise 
to  the  best  of  my  ability. 

"  Liclmowsky  uttered  his  convictions  before  the  new 
faction  in  the  Landtag,  but  they  called  him  an  ex- 
citable fool  and  a  dupe.     The  majority  rejected  his 
illuminating   ideas,    and  no  memorial,   no   argument, 
could   induce  them   to   change   their   minds.      Where 
is  the  person  who   can  listen  to   the  warning  voice 
of  Cassandra  unshaken,  or  without  asking:     Can  this 
be  true?     But  it  really  seems  as  if  no  one  will  listen. 
Then  they  must  be  made  to  feel  and  it  will  be  terrible. 
I  am  almost  mad  with  despair  in  the  vain  endeavor  to 
spread  the  truth.    Now  I  stand  before  the  court.    Will 
they  listen  to  me  there  ?    I  trust  they  will ;  that  is  why 
I  do  not  defend  myself  in  the  usual  manner.     I  shall 
accuse  and  lay  my  soul  bare  before  them.     One  thing 
only  I  ask:     Examine,  investigate,  prove,  and  do  not 
rest  until  the  truth  is  found!     I  have  an  enormous 
amount  of  material  to  place  at  your  disposal.    Whoever 

260 


HANS  GEORG  YON  BEERFELDE 

will  take  the  trouble  to  examine  it  will  be  able  to  see 
clearly.  It  was  just  the  same  with  me.  I  was  firmly 
convinced  of  the  justice  of  our  cause;  I  can  furnish 
hundreds  of  proofs  of  my  enthusiasm  in  the  beginning 
—  until  instinctively  I  felt  there  was  something  wrong 
at  home.  And  then  came  the  bitter  illumination.  I 
was  nigh  unto  despair.  Since  I  saw  what  I  have  seen 
there  is  but  one  road  for  me  —  bear  witness  for  the 
truth,  if  I  must  die  for  it  in  order  that  our  unsus- 
pecting people  may  not  be  ruined. 

"  I  do  not  write  this  for  effect  —  it  is  the  cold,  sober, 
and  holy  truth  and  unchangeable  resolve." 

The  court  was  not  able  to  bring  in  a  verdict  —  revo- 
lution rattled  on  the  doors  of  the  prison  house  where 
he  sat  and  presented  him  his  freedom.  In  a  trice  he 
was  at  the  top.  On  the  9  th  of  November  he  took  charge 
of  the  almighty  executive  committee  of  the  Workmen 
and  Soldiers'  Councils.  Now  he  was  to  stand  his  test. 
But  in  three  days  he  was  dismissed.  He  had  shown 
himself  too  stormy  for  the  systematic  work  of 
organization. 

He  was  swallowed  up  again  in  the  nothingness  of 
everyday.  Unawares  he  stepped  into  the  waves  —  will 
they  ever  cast  him  up  again  ?  In  the  meanwhile  he  is 
stranded  at  a  sanatorium. 


XXXVI 

PAUL  VON  HINTZE 

One  day  I  received  an  invitation  from  His  Excellency 
the  Secretary  of  the  Foreign  Office,  Herr  von  Hintze, 
'Wilhelmstrasse  76,  first  floor.  The  rooms  were  well 
known  to  me.  In  the  modest  vestibule  lie  the  two 
sphinxes  on  their  stone  postaments  eying  every  intruder 
good-humoredly.  The  conference  room  on  the  first  floor 
makes  a  simple,  virtuous  impression.  ~No  silken  wall 
paper,  no  soft  carpets,  no  heavy  damask  curtains  before 
the  windows.  A  green-covered,  horseshoe-shaped  table 
occupies  almost  the  whole  of  the  small  room.  On  the 
left  wall  is  a  life-size  portrait  of  Wilhelm  II  in  his 
thirtieth  year;  on  the  right,  Kaiser  Friedrich.  Near 
it  the  well-known  marine  tables  from  His  Majesty, 
dating  from  the  time  of  the  navy  enthusiasm.  In  a 
window  niche,  a  huge  globe.  With  the  exception  of  a 
bookcase  that  is  all  the  furniture  in  the  room. 

A  few  legation  councillors,  active  and  inactive  clerks, 
an  Under-Secretary  of  State,  and  lastly  the  Secretary 
himself.  Subject  of  discussion  was  politics,  naturally 
confidential. 

Herr  von  Hintze  opened  the  meeting  with!  a  long 
resume    of   the    situation.      A    fresh,    energetic   man, 

262 


PAUL  VOX  HINTZE 

rather  short,  very  active  and  full  of  inner  unrest  like 
a  distant,  rumbling,  volcano.  Externally  calm,  with  a 
trace  of  superiority.  Speaks  genially  and  yet  a  bit 
condescendingly.  Likes  to  have  his  listeners  believe 
that  he  regards  everything  sub  specie  aeterni.  He  knows 
people  and  knows  that  they  like  to  be  deceived;  knows 
people  from  all  over  the  world,  for  he  has  been  thrown 
from  pillar  to  post  most  of  his  life. 

The  two  large,  brown  eyes  wander  regularly  from 
left  to  right  and  from  right  to  left  during  his  conversa- 
tion; he  likes  to  have  the  whole  of  his  little  audience 
under  control.  And  he  wants  to  make  an  impression, 
not  merely  with  the  subject  itself  but  also  with  his 
treatment  of  it.  He  speaks  in  choice  phrases  without 
pauses,  periods  or  exclamation  points  —  smooth  and 
rounded  like  a  book.  !Not  a  single  clause  is  wasted; 
one  sentence  follows  another  in  well-ordered  array.  He 
blows  every  little  grain  of  stylistic  unevenness  from  the 
filigree  of  his  conversation,  making  every  moment 
some  remark,  some  insinuation,  some  twist,  designed  to 
illustrate  his  literary  knowledge,  which  is  not  exactly 
modern. 

He  is  no  self-sufficient  aristocrat ;  he  is  a  man  of  strict 
self-discipline,  who  has  labored  to  acquire  what  he 
possesses.  He  makes  nothing  of  family  connections,  or 
material  possessions  —  and  has  boldly  remained  a 
bachelor  to  the  present  day. 

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LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Fate  did  not  favor  him  externally.  When  he  was 
still  in  the  navy,  people  said  he  looked  like  the  Kaiser's 
state  coachman.  And  now  he's  driving  the  Imperial 
German  National  coach.  But  those  who  made  fun  of 
him  secretly  respected  him  all  the  same.  They  called 
him  the  crazy,  clever,  industrious,  and  ambitious 
Hintze.  He  was  soon  an  all  round  man,  indefatigably 
active,  and  absolutely  inconsiderate  when  it  came  to 
reaching  a  goal  he  had  set  for  himself  as  the  right  one. 
Of  course  a  goal  always  lies  in  a  direct  line  with  one's 
own  advantages.  He  showed  backbone  as  a  naval  officer 
without  dispensing  entirely  with  diplomatic  cunning. 
On  the  contrary  he  was  especially  good  at  this.  As  first 
officer  on  board  the  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II,  he  thought 
he  had  discovered  a  sort  of  indolence  among  the  younger 
set.  He  went  after  them  with  pitch  and  sulphur,  natu- 
rally making  a  good  many  enemies,  but  he  did  not  let 
that  influence  him  any.  He  had  no  prejudices,  was  too 
much  a  man  of  the  world  for  this.  When  one  of  his 
comrades  had  to  leave  the  service  on  account  of  a  mesal- 
liance, the  others,  according  to  narrow-minded  custom, 
concluded  not  to  send  a  wedding  present.  Hintze,  as 
crew  senior,  protested  against  such  antiquated  opinions, 
and  the  present  was  sent. 

In  1882  he  entered  the  navy  as  cadet.  At  the 
examination  he  won  first  place,  which  he  continued  to 
keep.     Admiral  von  Truppel,  later  governor  of  Kiao- 

264 


PAUL  VOX  HINTZE 

chow  and  a  very  strict  disciplinarian,  was  his  officer. 
It  was  not  easy  for  Ilintze  and  he  was  at  one  time 
ready  to  leave  the  service.  But  his  energy  overcame  all 
hindrances.  For  three  years  he  gondoliered  round  the 
world  on  hoard  the  cruiser  frigate  Prinz  AdeTbert. 
When  he  returned  in  1885,  he  was  sub-lieutenant.  The 
way  to  fame  was  open.  But  the  way  was  long  and  fame 
let  him  wait  for  a  considerable  length  of  time.  Several 
commands  of  no  particular  importance  followed.  It 
seemed  as  if  they  had  not  recognized  Hintze's  talents. 
He  had  to  drill  recruits,  attend  torpedo  practice,  and  a 
lot  more  of  the  same  sort.  Naturally  this  did  not  con- 
tent him.  He  entered  the  Naval  Academy  and  re- 
mained there  from  1894  to  1896.  The  navy  hubbub 
was  just  beginning.  While  his  comrades  were  enjoying 
themselves,  Hintze  worked  like  a  horse  learning  one 
language  after  another  and  gathering  all  sorts  of  infor- 
mation. He  dressed  well  and  did  not  despise 
amusements,  but  he  was  always  within  bounds,  never  in 
high  spirits. 

In  1896  he  arrived  at  the  first  stage  of  his  ambition; 
on  the  8th  of  April  he  was  made  Lieutenant-Captain  of 
the  naval  staff.  His  upward  climb  proceeded  rapidly. 
Two  years  later  he  was  Flag-Lieutenant  of  the  East 
Asiatic  cruiser  squadron.  His  chief  was  Vice-Admiral 
von  Diederichs.  For  the  first  time,  if  only  for  a 
moment,  nintze's  name  went  the  rounds  of  the  world. 

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LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

It  was  during  the  Dewey  affair  at  Manila,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1898,  when  Admiral  von  Diederichs  anchored  in 
Manila  Bay.     The  Admiral  sent  Hintze  to  Dewey  to 
remonstrate  against  the  threatened  searching  of  two 
German  war  vessels.    "  Young  man,  do  you  tell  me  that 
means  war  ?  "  exclaimed  Dewey.    In  spite  of  his  thirty- 
six  years  Hintze  looked  very  young  at  that  time,  with 
his  smooth-shaven  face.     As  everyone  knows  there  was 
nothing  to  the  conflict  but   a  noisy  press  campaign. 
Prince  Heinrich  took  von  Diederich's  place  as  com- 
mander of  the  cruiser  squadron  and  Hintze  became  his 
staff  officer.     He  left  the  Kaiser  Wilhehn  and  went 
on    board    the    DeuiscJiland.      The    commander    was 
Captain  Miiller  (later  chief  of  the  navy  cabinet)  who 
enjoyed  a  reputation  similar  to  Hintze's  in  naval  circles. 
Two  gentlemen  of  eminent  cunning  thus  met  on  board 
ship.     They  were  not  congenial,  partly  on  account  of 
the  Prince.    But  they  did  the  cleverest  thing  under  the 
circumstances,  concluded  peace,  swore  eternal  friend- 
ship for  better  or  for  worse.     This  compact  has  been 
cherished  and  has  been  the  better  for  both  parties  con- 
cerned. 

In  1901  Hintze  came  home,  was  promoted  to  corvet 
Captain  and  come  on  board  the  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II 
as  commander.  Eor  many  years  he  had  not  been  in 
active  service  and  gradually  became  unused  to  it  —  he 
worked  only  with  his  pen.     It  seemed  as  if  fate  had 

266 


PAUL  YON  HINTZE 

overtaken  him.  He  did  not  understand  how  to  handle 
people,  and  many  a  misunderstanding  arose  from 
this  fact.  Fortune  did  not  desert  him,  however.  Once 
more,  in  1902,  he  sat  on  an  office  chair  —  this  time  in 
the  Admiralty.  "  I'd  like  to  go  to  London  as  naval 
attache,"  he  sighed.  He  had  a  particular  liking  for 
everything  English,  but  his  wish  was  not  fulfilled.  A 
year  later  he  was  sent  to  St.  Petersburg  as  marine  at- 
tache. Here  he  laid  the  foundation  of  his  diplomatic 
career  at  the  side  of  the  dignified,  old  Count  von  Pour- 
tales.  He  soon  became  'persona  grata  at  the  Czar's  court, 
and  always  had  the  ear  of  His  Majesty.  During  the  revo- 
lution of  1905,  when  the  waves  threatened  to  break  over 
the  palace,  he  ordered  a  German  torpedo  boat  to  Kron- 
stadt  and  placed  it  at  the  service  of  the  Czar  in  case  he 
should  have  to  flee,  nis  influence  continued  to  increase. 
He  soon  became  Nicholas  IPs  most  faithful  adviser. 
"When  the  revolution  seemed  to  come  to  no  end  he  ad- 
vised the  Czar  to  cease  trying  to  appease  the  masses  and 
take  the  most  rigorous  measures  against  them  instead, 
nintze's  advice  was  followed  and  proved  good.  So 
much  personal  influence  naturally  created  enemies 
among  German  attaches  of  the  Embassy  as  well  as 
among  the  Eussians.  But  enmities  and  scandals  could 
not  shake  his  position.  In  1905  he  was  frigate  Captain ; 
1906,  aide-de-camp  to  the  Kaiser;  1907,  Captain;  1908 
he  was  knighted,  and  in  1909  his  title  ran  as  follows: 

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LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Military  Plenipotentiary  at  the  Imperial  Russian  Court, 
attached  to  the  Person  of  His  Majesty,  the  Czar  of 
all  the  Russias,  and  appointed  to  his  Headquarters. 
One  could  not  get  much  higher.  Peter,  as  his  comrades 
called  him,  seemed  to  have  accomplished  all  there  was 
to  accomplish. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  hitch.  Hintze  was  deposed. 
The  navy  lists  of  1911  record  laconically:  Captain 
Hintze's  resignation  was  accepted  in  view  of  his  trans- 
ference to  foreign  service. 

What  had  happened?  A  careless  remark  about 
"  Hessen  "  had  reached  ears  not  meant  to  hear  it.  This 
was  Hintze's  downfall.  The  pack  were  only  waiting 
for  it. 

When  he  awoke  from  the  shock  he  saw  that  he  had 
tumbled  down  the  stairs.  The  title  of  Rear  Admiral 
and  the  handsome  pension  that  went  with  it  ought  to 
have  satisfied  Hintze,  but  the  Foreign  Office  only  be- 
came a  new  spring-board  for  him.  He  had  all  sorts  of 
opponents  here.  They  hated  the  man  who  was  encroach- 
ing on  their  preserves  so  they  packed  him  off  to  Mexico, 
which  had  so  far  cost  every  ambassador  his  neck.  But 
the  Foreign  Office  had  deceived  itself;  Hintze  made  pos- 
sible the  impossible,  got  on  a  friendly  basis  with  the 
whole  world,  easily  won  everybody's  sympathy,  and  ex- 
cited great  attention  by  driving  his  automobile  into  the 
midst  of  a  mass  of  rioters  and  rescuing  a  few  hard- 

268 


PAUL  VON  HINTZE 

pressed  Germans.  In  short,  his  star  of  fortune  radiated 
in  new  splendor.  Once  more  he  basked  in  the  sun  of 
the  Kaiser's  favor.  "  That's  my  man !  "  exclaimed  the 
monarch. 

Then  came  the  war.  Hintze  went  to  China.  Dis- 
guised as  a  stoker  he  once  more  crossed  the  ocean  and 
escaped  the  persecution  of  the  enemy.  "  That  was  finely 
managed,"  smiled  the  Kaiser  when  Hintze  told  him  of 
it.  "  If  you  do  that  again  I'll  make  you  ambassador 
to  Pekin."  After  China  broke  off  diplomatic  relations 
he  returned  home  once  more.  At  a  critical  period  he 
was  sent  to  Christiania  as  ambassador.  He  managed 
very  cleverly  here  also;  although  unfriendly,  Norway 
remained  neutral. 

"When  Mr.  Zimmerman  had  to  leave  Wilhelmstrasse, 
Hintze  was  named  as  his  successor.  But  he  was  sus- 
pected of  being  too  Pan-German  and  the  Left  rejected 
him.  Kuhlmann  came  out  winner.  After  a  short  stay 
as  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs  he,  too,  had  to  go  and 
Hintze  then  took  his  place.  He  burned  most  of  the 
Pan-German  bridges  behind  him  and  made  his  bow  to 
the  Reichstag  majority.  This  splendor  did  not  last  long. 
A  few  times  he  spoke  publicly :  once  to  the  Khedive  of 
Egypt,  once  to  the  Irish,  and  to  the  Vienna  press,  whom 
he  assured  that  there  was  no  suppression  of  public  opin- 
ion. He  had  a  friendly  word  for  everyone.  It  was  a 
heavy  defeat  for  him  when  Count  Burian  came  out 

269 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

with  his  offer  of  peace.  Hintze  believed  he  had  per- 
suaded the  Count  from  taking  this  step.  He  went  at 
last  because  times  were  too  speedy  for  his  diplomatic 
methods.  He  could  not  imagine  a  Reichstag  plenum. 
After  that  he  played  the  role  of  representative  of  the 
Foreign  Office  in  the  General  Headquarters  until  the 
crash  came. 


XXXVII 

ROSA  LUXEMBURG 

The  seeds  Rosa  Luxemburg  sowed  during  her  life- 
time have  begun  to  sprout.  In  Berlin  on  the  10th  of 
January,  1919,  machine  guns  rattled,  hand-grenades  ex- 
ploded, and  the  streets  vomited  armed  proletariat  from 
every  corner.  These  were  the  days  of  demonstrations: 
endless  processions  with  blood-red  flags  swarmed  Unter 
den  Linden,  causing  the  majority  socialists  and  the 
bourgeois  to  make  counter  demonstrations.  A  gentle- 
man remarked  to  me  in  the  Chancellor's  palace :  "  Who 
knows  if  we  will  ever  see  each  other  alive  again  ?  "  The 
days  of  preparation,  of  surprises,  of  dull  forebodings, 
of  wild  shooting,  the  days  of  rioting  are  over.  It  has 
settled  down  to  deadly  seriousness.  Berlin  has  become 
a  battle  ground,  the  scene  of  civil  war.  The  anarchist- 
communist  revolution  which  aims  to  weed  out  capital- 
ism, root  and  branch,  has  followed  on  the  heels  of  the 
political  revolution  which  sent  all  the  crowned  heads  of 
Germany  into  retirement,  and  the  social  revolution  of 
the  workers  who  wished  to  insure  themselves  a  part  of 
the  fruits  of  the  big  wage  movement.  Hegel's  philo- 
sophical teachings  of  the  pendulum-like  movements  of 

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LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

development  seem  to  be  confirmed.  The  thesis,  Monar- 
chistic  absolutism,  threatens  to  be  solved  by  the  anti- 
thesis, proletariat  dictation. 

Rosa  Luxemburg  triumphs.  This  is  her  work.  For 
many  years  she  conspired  and  revolutionized.  She 
did  not  come  from  Russian  Poland  for  nothing  —  not 
to  have  learned  something  of  the  art  of  undermining  in 
the  political  school.  About  twenty-five  years  ago  she 
emigrated  to  Germany  after  having  founded  a  revolu- 
tionary labor  party  in  Poland.  Here  in  Germany  she 
found  a  new  and  promising  field.  But  as  a  foreigner, 
as  a  Russian  Jewess,  she  would  probably  have  been 
quickly  deported  in  Billow's  time  if  she  had  not  found 
some  quick  means  of  becoming  a  citizen.  She  soon 
found  this  way  in  a  marriage  with  a  Mr.  Liibeck,  of 
whom  no  one  has  ever  heard  since.  As  Mrs.  Rosalie 
Liibeck  she  became  a  Prussian  citizen  without  further 
parley.  She  could  no  longer  be  deported  as  a  "  trouble- 
some foreigner." 

But  Rosa  had  sharp  thorns ;  the  party  felt  them  more 
than  once.  She  was  clever  as  was  no  other  Socialist. 
Was  she  a  woman  who  had  only  the  feminist  movement 
at  heart  ?  Not  a  bit  of  it.  She  was  a  man  who  had  no 
time  for  petty  questions,  sentimentality,  or  the  like. 
She  went  in  for  the  whole  thing,  always  in  the  front 
row.  She  did  not  clear  her  path  with  a  dainty  parasol 
after  diving  up  out  of  the  Ghetto  —  she  smashed  her 

272 


ROSA  LUXEMBURG 

way  through  with  a  bludgeon.  The  whole  party,  even 
at  the  time  when  Bebel  and  Singer  had  command,  had 
no  small  respect  for  this  resolute  person.  She  was 
a  person  who  commanded  respect.  And  how  she  could 
talk !  Her  words  fell  like  shrapnel  on  the  enemy.  She 
was  materialized  radicalism  working  with  every  rhetori- 
cal means  at  hand.  I  still  remember  how  she  shone 
resplendent  at  every  party  day  —  how  she  ironically 
answered  the  softer  Scheidemann  on  a  day  at  Jena: 
"  Du  gleichst  dem  Geist  den  Du  hegreifst,  nicht  mir." 
(You  resemble  the  spirit  you  attack,  not  me.)  Every- 
body shook  with  laughter.  Here  the  stately,  blonde 
Philip  Scheidemann,  there  the  little,  undersized,  black 
Rosa  with  the  limping  gait. 

There  was  no  end  to  the  hubbub  she  made.  She 
stayed  nowhere  for  any  length  of  time,  for  she  was 
always  raging,  always  speaking  in  superlatives,  with- 
out being  able  to  suggest  a  better  socialistic  solution. 
She  stayed  but  a  few  years  on  the  Leipziger  Zeitung, 
this  high  school  of  proletarianism,  and  for  some  time 
she  was  Karl  Kautsky's  coworker  on  the  Neue  Zeit. 

Here  she  scattered  her  ideas  on  the  tender  meadows 
of  science,  and  during  all  the  years  of  her  development 
she  remained  in  close  touch  with  Russian  Nihilists  and 
Social  Revolutionists.  Once  she  was  caught  by  the  Rus- 
sian police  and  shipped  back  to  Germany,  but  that  did 
not  break  off  her  connections. 

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LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Some  things  she  had  in  common  with  Louise  Michel, 
the  great  anarchist  of  the  Paris  Commune:  wild,  in- 
flammatory agitation,  suggestive  fanaticism,  and  the 
effect  on  the  masses  when  she  talked  to  them  with  her 
whole  soul.  "When  the  war  broke  out  she  saw  the  time 
had  come  for  the  solution  of  her  life's  work.  With 
Liebknecht,  Mehring,  and  Klara  Zetkin,  she  formed  a 
conspiracy  quartet  in  August  or  September  of  191-i. 
About  this  time  she  published  her  first  war  pamphlet: 
The  World  Vomits  Blood! 

She  kept  sliding  ever  farther  toward  the  Left.  The 
greater  the  war  intoxication  the  more  her  revolutionary 
spirit  waxed.  Gradually  this  quartet  grew  to  a  league 
in  the  spring  of  1916,  which  adopted  the  name  of  Spar- 
tacus.  This  was  at  the  time  when  the  Social  Demo- 
cratic party  split  up  in  dreadful  convulsions.  She  dis- 
tributed secret  circulars  and  open  letters  to  the  labor 
unions  until  a  certain  authority  had  her  arrested  and 
brought  to  the  Breslau  prison.  Shortly  before  the  9th 
of  November  she  and  Karl  Liebknecht  were  set  at  lib- 
erty at  the  order  of  Scheidemann. 

She  was  loose  again.  All  the  resentment  she  had 
stored  up  spiritually  and  mentally  during  her  years  of 
imprisonment  now  exploded.  In  the  first  November 
revolution  she  stood  in  the  front  row  on  the  ramparts. 
But  on  the  second  day  she  saw  that  this  was  not  her 
revolution.     She  was  still  in  communication  witH  the 

274 


ROSA  LUXEMBURG 

Independents,  at  least  with  Ledebour,  Adolph  Hoff- 
mann, Eichhorn,  Diiuniig,  and  Richard  Miiller,  but  her 
heart  drew  her  to  Liebknecht,  to  the  people  on  the  ex- 
treme left  who  would  hear  of  no  concessions,  who  wanted 
to  extirpate  the  bourgeoisie  and  capitalism,  and  hand 
in  hand  with  the  Russian  Bolshevists  spread  the  world 
revolution.  Ebert's  and  Haase's  revolution  seemed  but 
a  harmless,  capitalist-friendly  revolution  in  dressing 
gown  and  slippers,  so  she  went  forth  and  together  with 
Liebknecht  founded  the  Rote  Faline  (red  flag), 
which  whipped  up  the  people  day  after  day  with  its 
bloodthirsty  fanaticism.  She  rejected  everything:  the 
Erfurt  Social  Democratic  program,  parliamentarism, 
the  mining  propositions,  democracy,  everything  upon 
which  the  Marx  socialism  was  based,  and  announced  at 
the  Berlin  conference  that  the  Spartacists  were  sep- 
arated from  the  Independents  at  last.  They  could  now 
join  the  Communists  and  overthrow  the  Ebert-Scheide- 
mann  Government.  "We  must  be  prepared  for  a 
period  of  conflict,"  she  said.  "We  must  undermine 
the  Government  by  a  revolution  of  the  masses." 

And  that  is  how  it  happened  that  for  a  week  civil 
war  raged  in  Berlin.  The  Government  recruited  more 
and  more  troops;  narrower  and  narrower  became  the 
circle  around  the  Spartacists.  One  fort  after  another 
fell.  Ledebour  was  arrested.  Liebknecht  ran  into  the 
soldier's  net  and  his  faithful  Rosa  was  arrested,  too. 

275 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

When  she  left  the  exclusive  Hotel  Eden  by  the  zoological 
gardens,  the  mob  fell  upon  her  in  fury  with  canes  and 
parasols. 


She  was  brutally  murdered  by  the  officers  who  had 
her  in  charge,  not  by  the  mob.  She  was  struck  in  the 
head  with  the  butt  end  of  a  gun  and  afterwards  thrown 
into  an  automobile  and  shot.  The  body  was  then 
wrapped  with  barbed  wire  and  thrown  into  a  canal, 
where  it  was  not  found  for  weeks.  Of  the  four  officers 
concerned  only  one  was  condemned  to  a  year  or  so  of 
imprisonment,  not  for  the  murder  of  Liebknecht  or 
Rosa  Luxemburg,  but  for  some  military  misdemeanor. 
He  was  allowed  to  escape  to  Holland  on  a  falsified  pass. 
The  trial  proceedings  may  be  read  in  most  Berlin  papers 
of  that  time. 


xxxvin 

MAXIMILIAN  VON  BADEN 

This  analysis  is  not  easy.  In  our  psychological  sem- 
inary we  have  already  undertaken  a  number  of  psychic 
dissections,  not  without  success.  This  case  is  neither 
pathologically  nor  in  any  other  sense  abnormal;  it  is 
thoroughly  commonplace  in  all  its  details.  Only  as  a 
complexity  is  it  difficult  to  disentangle. 

The  Prince  is  in  his  fifty-second  year  and  has  almost 
thirty  years  of  military  service  behind  him.  lie  was 
promoted  from  Lieutenant  of  the  Garde-Kiirassier  regi- 
ment to  Lieutenant-General  and  General  of  the  cavalry. 
In  the  first  few  weeks  of  the  war  he  was  with  the  four- 
teenth army  corps  sent  to  the  defense  of  Alsace,  but 
"  his  other  duties  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  retain 
this  post  for  any  length  of  time,"  as  his  official  release 
reads.  So  he  had  only  a  tiny  taste  of  war  and  has  been 
but  a  passive  observer.  As  a  militarist  he  was  not 
prominent;  he  was  one  of  Nature's  chosen  ones  whose 
progress  could  not  be  stopped  by  a  blue  envelope.  It 
was  preordained  that  he  should  end  as  General  of  the 
cavalry  and  Excellence.  Comradeship  and  sport  fascin- 
ated him  more  than  military  drill  or  the  routine  of  bar- 

277 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

rack  life.  This  was  liis  field;  moreover  he  was  not 
ascetic,  he  knew  how  to  live  like  a  gentleman.  There 
was  nothing  to  distinguish  him  from  the  average  either 
ias  Prince,  officer,  or  sportsman.  Live  and  let  live- — 
shimmering  superficiality. 

Before  the  Prince  took  up  a  military  career  he  studied 
law  and  political  science  at  Ereiburg  and  Heidelberg 
and  took  his  degree  at  the  University  of  Leipzig.  As 
officer  he  read  what  everybody  else  read  and  dipped  a 
little  into  philosophy,  especially  Plato  and  Kant.  Plato 
teaches  that  it  is  not  the  transient  and  changing  life  of 
the  senses  that  is  good,  but  the  striving  after  truth,  after 
an  ideal  existence.  We  must  refine  the  soul,  free  it 
from  everything  material  in  order  to  become  God-like. 
Applied  to  the  State,  this  means  sacrificing  the  indi- 
vidual for  the  benefit  of  the  whole. 

To  turn  from  Plato  to  Christianity:  the  Prince  is 
religious,  Protestant,  but  not  dogmatic.  There  is  some- 
thing of  the  genuine  pietist  in  him,  something  of 
Spener,  Anton,  Erancke,  of  Christian  mysticism,  which 
seeks  to  feel,  not  reason, —  which  strives  for  life,  not  for 
the  purely  contemplative. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  war  the  Prince  took 
over  the  care  of  German  prisoners  abroad;  this  was 
probably  the  outlet  for  the  craving  to  help  and  give 
advice  where  everybody  was  fighting  and  suffering.  He 
went  to  work  energetically,   made  frequent  trips  to 

278 


MAXTMTLTAlsr  VOX  BADE3T 

Stockholm  and  Switzerland,  and  really  accomplished 
the  relief  of  prisoners  in  Russia  and  the  removal  of 
interned  Germans  from  France  to  Switzerland.  When- 
ever exchanged  German  prisoners  crossed  the  border  at 
Lake  Constance,  he  was  there  to  welcome  them  home. 
This  was  applied  Christianity.  Kant,  too,  taught  the 
same  thing  in  his  little  booklet:  Religion  'Within  the 
Borders  of  Reason.  Religion  to  him  meant  recognizing 
one's  duties  as  commandments  from  God. 

The  Prince  made  an  ethical-political-religious  con- 
fession on  the  14th  of  December,  1917,  when  he  became 
president  of  the  Baden  House  of  Representatives.  He 
examined  into  the  moral  foundations  of  the  war  with 
strong,  manly  words.  Although  he  contested  the  right 
of  the  president  of  the  United  States  to  set  himself  up 
as  the  judge  of  the  world  and  make  war  in  the  name  of 
humanity,  he  admitted :  "  We  must  not  deceive  our- 
selves, the  American  people  really  believe  that  the  war 
must  continue  in  order  to  make  the  world  safe  for  all 
the  great  ideals.  It  is  a  tragical  fact  of  this  world  war 
that  Europe  is  historically,  psychologically,  and  polit- 
ically an  undiscovered  land  for  the  broad  masses  in 
America." 

After  he  had  designated  the  democratic  parole  in  the 
mouths  of  the  Western  powers  as  a  "  monstrous  lie," 
he  raked  the  Germans  over  the  coals  and  preached  a 
return  from  the  brutalities  of  war :    "  Even  in  war  love 

279 


LEADERS  OE  YESTEEDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

for  the  enemy  is  the  symbol  of  those  who  are  most  faith- 
ful to  Germany/'  and  "  If  the  world  is  to  become  recon- 
ciled to  the  greatness  of  our  power,  it  must  feel  that 
there  is  a  world  conscience  behind  it." 

This  speech  created  a  great  stir  at  home  and  abroad. 
The  Kaiser  telegraphed  the  orator  calling  his  speech  a 
deed.  Prince  Alexander  von  Hohenlohe,  his  cousin, 
the  pacifist,  wrote  him  an  enthusiastic  letter  from 
Switzerland.  Max  was  surprised;  the  loud  applause 
from  the  Socialist  press  was  painful  to  him.  "  The 
Frankfurter  Zeitung  should  let  me  alone,  and  the  pacif- 
ists too.  I  am  not  an  ideologist."  In  the  first  excite- 
ment over  the,  to  him,  unpleasant  echo,  he  sat  down  and 
wrote  a  long  letter  to  Prince  Alexander : 

"  In  their  suggested  insanity  these  newspapers  can- 
not take  a  word  of  reason,  of  serious,  practical  Chris- 
tianity for  what  it  is  worth.  They  must  first  drag  it 
through  the  mud  of  their  own  distortive  foolishness  in 
order  to  fit  it  to  their  lower  instincts  and  opinions." 
The  courtier  speaks  from  the  letter,  the  blue-blood  who 
will  have  his  Christianity  for  himself,  who  feels  him- 
self compromised  and  embarrassed  by  the  applause  from 
the  other  bank  of  the  river,  and  shakes  it  off  with  a 
shudder.  In  order  that  the  others  may  not  imagine  he 
belongs  to  them  —  to  the  democrats  in  slouch  hats  and 
dirty  fingernails  —  he  adds :  "  Naturally  I  wish  the 
greatest  possible  exploitation  of  our  success  and  in  con- 

280 


MAXIMILIAN  VON  BADEN 

trast  to  the  peace  resolutions,  which  are  the  child  of 
fear  and  Berlin  dog-days,  I  wish  as  much  compensation 
possible  so  that  we  may  not  be  too  poor  after  the  war." 
This  letter,  written  in  a  bad  humor  by  one  who  was 
ashamed  of  the  confessions  of  his  own  soul,  was  written 
confidentially  and  for  a  long  time  the  public  knew 
nothing  of  it. 

The  Prince,  who  had  been  the  subject  of  conversa- 
tion for  a  few  weeks,  again  passed  into  the  background 
of  silence.  He  lived  with  his  thoughts  and  often 
listened  to  the  words  of  Dr.  Johannes  Miiller,  who  had 
great  influence  over  him:  Johannes  Miiller,  the  mai 
who  knitted  up  the  raveled  sleeve  of  care,  who  traveled 
about  in  winter  giving  lectures  and  in  summer,  in 
Emmau  by  Patenkirchen,  conducted  a  soul-sanatorium. 
Here  come  soul-tired,  seeking  people  who  live  during 
the  day  as  in  any  other  pension;  at  night  they  are 
spiritually  refreshed  by  Dr.  Miiller.  He  is  no  dog- 
matic, mechanical,  theologian ;  he  wrestles  with  his  God. 
When  he  lectures  or  writes  for  his  scattered  parish  he 
lets  a  plumb  line  down  into  the  soul,  deeper  and  deeper, 
listening  and  feeling  what  is  stored  away  down  there 
untouched  by  the  material.  He  spins  his  listeners  into 
a  web  of  finest  thought  sensations,  and  only  he  who  is 
equipped  cap-a-pie  with  critical  reason  can  withstand 
the  murmuring  melodies  of  his  ethics  which  often  be- 
come blurred,  muddled,  and  foolish  when  brought  down 

281 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

from  the  spiritual  heights  onto  the  flatlands  of  practical 
life.  But  no  one  goes  away  empty-handed.  He  has 
something  to  say  to  each.  Even  the  Prince  has  more 
than  once  gone  away  with  rich  food  for  thought. 

On  August  22,  1918,  in  a  general  meeting  held  by 
both  Houses  of  the  Baden  Landtag  to  celebrate  the  cen- 
tennial of  their  constitution,  Prince  Max  made  a  speech. 
This  time  somewhat  formal,  but  the  ethical  seeped 
through  even  here.  "  The  danger  of  a  moral-national 
illness  threatens  us,"  he  said,  "  but  it  can  be  exorcised 
if  our  spiritual  leaders  remain  conscious  of  their  duties 
as  the  guards  and  healers  of  the  people's  souls."  He 
then  acknowledged  his  faith  in  a  League  of  Nations. 

We  have  still  to  examine  the  milieu  in  which  he  grew 
to  manhood.  Much  was  anticipated.  His  father  was 
Prince  Wilhelm  of  Baden,  the  eldest  of  the  two 
brothers  of  the  Grand  Duke,  Friedrich  I.  His  mother, 
Princess  Marie,  can  trace  her  ancestry  to  Napoleon's 
time.  She  was  a  Duchess  of  Leuchtenberg  and  a  grand- 
daughter of  Eugen  Beauharnais,  who  was  Napoleon  I's 
stepson  and  vice-regent  of  Italy.  Prince  Max  is  mar- 
ried to  Princess  Marie  of  Cumberland,  the  oldest 
sister  of  Duke  Ernst  August  of  Braunschweig.  His 
•connections  on  both  sides  are  splendid.  He  played  no 
small  part  in  the  reconciliation  of  the  Hohenzollerns 
and  the  Guelphs.  From  his  international  connections 
•and  also  from  his  friendship  with  the  Social  Democrat, 

282 


MAXIMILIAN  VOX  BADEN 

Ludwig  Frank,  we  get  a  new  glimpse  of  his  humani- 
tarian cosmopolitanism  which  rises  above  mere  national- 
ism to  the  plane  of  common  humanity. 

In  October  when  Count  Hertling  resolved  to  resign 
from  the  chancellorship  in  order  to  make  room  for  the 
new  regime,  Herr  von  Berg,  chief  of  the  imperial  cabi- 
net, suggested  Prince  Max  as  his  successor.  Fehren- 
bach,  president  of  the  Reichstag,  and  von  Payer,  Vice- 
Chancellor,  had  refused  the  position.  The  Prince 
came,  saw,  and  conquered.  His  good  reputation  pre- 
ceded him.  People  said  he  had  warned  them  at  Head- 
quarters against  a  spring  offensive,  but  they  had  not 
listened  to  him.  The  Prince  got  into  touch  with  the 
party  leaders  and  soon  agreed  with  them ;  the  way  was 
cleared  over  night  for  a  parliamentary  system.  Pro- 
gressives, Center,  and  Social  Democrats  were  called 
into  the  cabinet.  The  conservatives  were  also  invited. 
At  the  request  of  the  army  leaders  his  first  act  was  to 
send  a  message  to  Wilson  asking  for  truce  and  peace 
transactions.  His  clear,  open  speech  in  the  Reichstag, 
in  which  he  plainly  announced  the  beginning  of  a  new 
period,  pleased  everybody  immensely.  Only  the  con- 
servatives were  horrified  at  this  princely  leader  of  the 
people's  Government. 

And  then  —  through  some  indiscretion  of  the  Paris 
press,  that  unfortunate  letter  to  Prince  von  Hohenlohe 
was  made  public.    There  was  a  hasty  vote.    The  Prince 

283 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

declared  his  loyalty.  The  parties  discussed  the  matter 
and  concluded  to  overlook  the  purely  human  impulse. 
Even  the  Social  Democrats  forgave  him;  there  were 
larger  things  at  stake  —  for  instance,  peace.  In  this 
way  under  her  Princely  Chancellor,  Germany  was  thor- 
oughly democratized.  Militarism  was  rooted  out,  stock 
and  branch,  and  the  imperial  power  was  vested  in  the 
Civil  Government.  These  reforms  went  through  in 
quick  time,  but  it  was  all  over  in  less  than  six  weeks. 
Even  the  Prince  had  to  step  aside  for  the  revolution. 

Was  he  a  great  politician?  Hardly,  but  at  least  he 
was  not  of  the  old  Bismarck  school.  The  time  for 
diplomatic  tricks,  for  countermoves,  was  over.  Ger- 
many marched  headlong  into  the  world  catastrophe 
from  this  sort  of  politics.  The  Prince  wanted  to  see 
what  candid  honesty  would  do,  trusting  in  the  conscience 
of  the  world. 

But  before  his  plea  for  truce  was  answered  he  had  to 
make  way  for  the  Socialist,  Ebert. 


XXXIX 

KURT  EISNER 

When  the  Royal  orchestra,  under  Weingartner's 
leadership,  gave  its  symphony  concerts,  a  little  man 
gladly  climbed  four  long  flights  of  stairs  to  the  gallery, 
where  there  was  standing  room  only,  to  listen  to  the 
sweet  strains  of  music.  This  was  Kurt  Eisner,  mod- 
est, unpretentious,  silent  —  introspective  journalist  and 
politician.  A  Social  Democrat  at  a  time  when  it  was 
not  fashionable  to  speak  of  such  things.  A  votary,  but 
not  one  to  hold  beery  speeches  with  pathetic  gestures 
in  a  smoky  beer  hall.  His  fine  feeling  prevented  this ; 
he  was  no  people's  politician.  He  wrote  splendidly, 
intelligently,  and  sarcastically,  and  yet  not  for  the 
nameless  masses.  At  the  end  of  the  old  century,  when 
he  accepted  Wilhelm  Liebknecht's  call  to  the  Yorwarts, 
he  was  the  one  editor  in  Berlin  who  dazzled  most  with- 
out being  himself  a  dazzler. 

He  came  from  a  simple  Berlin  home  and  began  as 
a  Democrat.  He  studied  philosophy  and  Germanism 
for  eight  semesters  and  then  looked  about  for  some  way 
to  earn  his  bread.  His  first  books,  Psycliopathia  Spir- 
itualis  and  Friedrich  Nietzsche,  brought  him  neither 

285 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

fame  nor  money.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  began  to 
write  for  the  press  —  for  the  Frankfurter  Zeitung — 
and  then  for  the  Landeszeitung  in  Marburg.  Here  the 
Jew  came  into  conflict  with  anti-Semitism.  In  the 
stormy  election  days  of  that  time  one  of  his  circulars 
attracted  especial  attention.  "  How  is  it,  you  farmers 
of  Hessen,"  he  wrote,  "  how  is  it  that  you  do  not  know 
that  your  candidate,  Bockel,  has  sixteen  illegitimate 
children?  Is  it  to  such  a  person  that  you  want  to  give 
your  vote  ?  "  But  Kurt  Eisner  did  not  know  these  lusty 
farmers.  Never  did  Bockel  receive  so  many  votes  as 
then;  the  sixteen  illegitimate  children  had  suddenly 
endeared  him  to  the  people. 

From  Marburg  Eisner's  writings  found  their  way 
into  the  rest  of  the  world  roundabout.  His  article: 
"  A  Political  New  Year's  Reception,"  got  him  a  month 
in  jail.  The  court  considered  it  an  insult  to  His 
Majesty.  In  August,  1898,  when  he  had  served  his 
time,  the  Vorwarts  received  him  into  the  fold  again. 
He  threw  his  whole  soul  into  political  life ;  his  severity 
knew  no  bounds.  With  splendid  bravery  he  led  the 
battle  against  the  new  high  tariffs.  I  still  remember 
his  biting  article  entitled,  "  Tax-crazy,"  and  the  night 
he  devoted  to  the  Reichstag  when  the  Left  wing  tried 
to  obstruct  the  passage  of  the  bill  by  long  speeches. 
Antrick  (Social  Democrat)  alone  spoke  eight  hours. 
The  afternoon  passed  by,  it  became  evening,  night,  mid- 
286 


KURT  EISNER 

night,  and  still  he  spoke  on.  It  was  Saturday;  the  long- 
coated  Center  people  wanted  to  go  home  in  order  not  to 
leave  their  flocks  without  a  shepherd  over  Sunday.  They 
stood  around  stamping  their  feet  and  swinging  their 
hand  bags  in  impatience.  They  could  not  leave  until 
the  fateful  vote  was  taken.  "  Heute  geld  Herrendienst 
vor  Gottesdienst "  (Representative  service  comes  before 
church  service  to-day.  Literally:  Lord's  service  comes 
before  God's  service),  wrote  Eisner  dryly.  The  ob- 
struction was  finally  broken;  the  Junkers,  factory 
barons,  Conservatives,  Center,  and  ^National  Liberals 
won  out.  And  I  remember  how  he  turned  the  Conserv- 
ative socialist-eaters'  own  words  against  them :  "  Noth- 
ing is  holy  to  such  beings,  not  even  the  majesty  of  the 
people." 

His  ideas  were  inexhaustible;  he  was  never  embar- 
rassed for  words.  He  listened  to  everything  without 
insolence,  and  then  coolly  and  clearly  gave  back  his  re- 
flections. An  introspective  man  he  was,  sufficient  unto 
himself,  a  Sybarite  in  a  cold,  carpetless  room,  a  radical 
who  did  not  intoxicate  himself  with  words,  but  a  man 
of  careful  thought  who  gave  from  his  inmost  soul.  He 
was  shy,  hesitating,  and  modest  as  a  young  maiden  who 
blushes  at  a  word.  Moreover,  he  was  not  really  radical 
at  that  time ;  he  was  a  revisionist  like  Eduard  Bernstein, 
whom  he  resembled  in  many  other  ways.  At  the  Dres- 
den party  days  in  1903,  when  the  dirty  party  clothes 

287 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 

were  being  thoroughly  washed  —  when  one  bad  odor 
after  another  polluted  the  atmosphere  —  when  Bebel, 
with  fire  and  sword,  sought  to  stamp  out  revisionism  — 
the  verdict  against  the  Vorwarts  was  also  brought  in. 
The  "  noble  six  "  were  kicked  out.  Kurt  Eisner  stuck 
to  the  reviled  ones  and  so  the  whole  editorial  staff  flew. 
With  a  shout  of  triumph  Daumig  and  company,  Stadt- 
hagen  and  Adolph  Hoffman  took  over  the  Yonvarts 
and  steered  her  course  bravely  onto  the  stormy  high  seas 
of  radicalism.  Kurt  Eisner  was  again  out  in  the  cold; 
would  he  have  to  begin  all  over  again  ?  Once  when  his 
pocket  book  was  always  empty  he  had  been  happy  when 
some  Philistine  paper  accepted  his  articles,  or  when  he 
could  get  a  bit  of  hack-work  to  do  such  as  a  congress 
report.  Were  these  hand-to-mouth  days  to  begin  all 
over  again?  The  articles  he  had  already  published 
brought  him  in  no  money  at  all.  These  were  "  The 
Junker  Revolt";  "Wilkelm  Liebknecht";  "Spirit  of 
the  Day";  "  The  Future  State  of  To-day",  and  "  Ko- 
nigsberg,  the  Czar's  Secret  Compact".  For  a  few  years 
he  lived  precariously.  Finally,  in  1907,  the  socialistic 
Frankische  Tagespost  in  Niirnberg  engaged  him  as 
editor-in-chief.  He  became  a  naturalized  Bavarian  in 
order  to  be  able  to  accomplish  more  politically.  Again 
his  publications  made  him  known  far  beyond  the  out- 
skirts of  the  old  Diirer  city.  !Not  as  representative  or 
party  delegate,  which  he  never  was  at  any  time  during 

288 


KURT  EISKER 

liis  life.  lie  spoke  very  badly  at  this  time  —  was  any- 
thing but  a  public  speaker,  so  that  the  party  could  use 
him  only  as  a  reporter. 

But  those  precarious  years  following  his  dismissal 
from  the  Yonvdrts  had  one  advantage  —  during  this 
time  he  made  a  study  of  foreign  politics.  The  first 
fruits  of  these  studies  was  his  booklet  on  Morocco,  The 
Sultan  of  the  World  War,  which  announced  the  ap- 
proaching catastrophe. 

Nurnberg  held  him  fast  for  three  years,  then  he 
moved  to  Munich  where  he  published  the  Arbeiter 
Feuilleton,  which  was  used  by  almost  the  whole  demo- 
cratic press,  and  became  coworker  on  the  Milnchener 
Post.  On  many  a  discussion  evening  he  sought  to  en- 
lighten the  working  masses.  In  this  way  he  gradually 
learned  to  talk. 

And  then  the  war  broke  out.  As  correspondent  of 
the  Chemnitzer  YolJcsstimme  —  Noske's  paper  —  he 
brought  out  the  first  announcements  in  regard  to  the 
now  unavoidable  catastrophe  —  the  result  of  Russian 
war  policy,  as  he  then  believed.  The  revisionist  gradu- 
ally became  a  radical  —  like  Bernstein.  Everything  he 
wrote  was  confiscated  by  the  censor,  so  he  soon  confined 
himself  to  dramatic  criticism.  He  saw  the  misfortune 
approaching  ever  nearer  and  nearer,  and  attempted  to 
stave  it  off,  to  hold  it  back.  The  workers  should  arise 
and  put  an  end  to  this  wholesale  butchery:   "every 

289 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

wheel  stands  still,  if  only  your  strong  arm  wills."  He 
had  long  ago  joined  the  Independents.  In  February, 
1918,  the  time  seemed  ripe.  He  helped  to  fan  the 
flames  of  the  general  strike  movement  in  Munich.  To- 
gether with  Frau  Eugen  Lersch,  he  was  arrested  on  the 
night  of  February  1st  and  put  in  prison,  where  he  re- 
mained for  eight  and  one-half  months.  Shut  off  from 
the  world  without  the  possibility  of  helping  to  hasten 
the  coming  revolution,  he  wrote  and  wrote,  and  finally 
concluded  a  new  series,  The  Dreams  of  a  Prophet. 

On  a  September  day  the  doors  of  his  prison  opened. 
The  party  had  put  him  up  for  the  Reichstag  in  place  of 
Georg  von  Vollmar,  who  wished  to  retire  from  political 
life.  A  few  weeks  afterwards  the  revolutionary  waves 
from  Kiel  began  to  ripple.  Eisner's  great  moment  had 
come. 

Enormous  gatherings  and  huge  demonstration  par- 
ades everywhere,  Munich  included.  Berlin  was  quiet; 
they  did  not  yet  hear  the  roar  of  the  tidal  wave.  It  had 
just  begun  to  whisper.  But  the  waves  were  already 
roaring  in  Munich.  On  the  sixth  of  November  they 
broke  loose.  But  we  will  let  Eisner  himself  speak: 
"  Two  days  before  the  revolution,  when  the  masses 
gathered  on  the  Theresien  meadow,  when  this  thousand- 
headed  throng  began  to  call  for  deeds  and  to  threaten 
to  march  that  very  night  into  Munich  to  begin  the  revo- 
lution, I  cried  out  to  them :   ' I  will  wager  my  head  that 

290 


KURT  EISNER 

in  forty-eight  hours  all  Munich  will  arise.'  This  prom- 
ise was  kept  almost  to  the  minute.  If  I  had  said  that 
same  morning  that  the  reign  of  the  Wittelsbachs,  who 
had  ruled  for  eight  hundred  years,  would  be  over  within 
a  few  hours  —  that  a  Bavarian  Republic  would  be  pro- 
claimed—  they  would  have  locked  me  in  an  insane 
asylum." 

Instead  of  the  insane  asylum  he  marched  into  the 
ministerial  palace  at  the  head  of  laborers,  soldiers,  and 
scholars  —  overthrew  the  old  powers,  the  court  and  all 
its  parasites,  bureaucracy,  and  the  whole  crumbling, 
degenerated  system.  He  then  constituted  the  councils 
of  Workmen,  Soldiers,  and  Farmers,  took  over  the  man- 
agement, and  during  the  night  of  the  8th  of  November 
issued  the  first  proclamation:  "Bavaria's  socialistic 
civil  war  is  ended.  The  working  masses  will  be  united 
on  the  basis  of  our  revolutionary  program.  Long  live 
the  Bavarian  Republic!  Long  live  peace!  Long  live 
the  work  of  all  "Workers !  "  Other  proclamations  fol- 
lowed, speeches,  revolutionary  poems,  political  utter- 
ances—  all  esthetic  enjoyments. 

Kurt  Eisner,  whose  life  was  spent  in  toil  and  trouble, 
grew  old  before  his  time.  A  gray,  shaggy  beard  framed 
his  face.  Deep  furrows  lined  his  restless  brow.  His 
large,  noble  forehead  seemed  larger  because  of  an  almost 
bald  head.  Behind,  the  hair  fell  on  his  shabby  coat  like 
that  of  a  patriarch.    His  shoulders  are  bent.     A  heavy 

291 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

nickel-framed  pince-nez  rested  on  a  broad  nose.  His 
eyes  had  red,  tired  lids,  but  his  mind  was  fresh  and 
active.  Kurt  Eisner,  Bavarian  minister-president,  was 
suddenly  spoken  of  the  world  over. 

The  old  democracy,  the  old  parliamentary  system  was 
broken,  he  said.  New  forms  must  be  created  and  he 
would  create  them.  The  Workers,  Soldiers,  and  Farm- 
ers' Councils  would  be  the  fundamental  principle.  He 
seemed  to  wish  to  return  to  a  medieval  system  based 
on  professions,  but  hesitated  and  kept  his  promise  to 
stand  for  a  National  Assembly.  The  press  he  knew  so 
well  made  him  uncomfortable  —  he  reflected  upon  some 
means  to  extract  the  poison  from  its  fangs  but  was  dis- 
mayed at  the  idea  of  repressing  public  opinion.  He 
would  have  liked  to  banish  all  those  guilty  of  the  war,  to 
proscribe  those  who  worked  for  it  afterwards — Scheide- 
mann,  David,  Solf,  and  Erzberger.  Rather  should 
Bavaria  conclude  a  separate  peace  than  sit  at  the  table 
with  such  compromised  politicians.  When  Berlin  did 
not  react  to  this  he  sent  an  ultimatum  threatening  to 
break  off  all  relations  with  the  Foreign  Office.  Berlin 
laughed,  called  him  a  charlatan,  a  fool,  a  carnival  joke 
come  to  life ;  he  could  write  beautifully  but  it  was  im- 
possible for  him  to  think  or  act  politically. 

Was  Berlin  right  I  wonder  ?  Eisner  saw  in  Germany 
the  only  guilty  party  in  the  war;  he  probed  in  the 
wounds  of  his  nation. 

292 


KURT  EISXER 

The  despotic  politicians  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Rhine  laughed  at  him  as  an  ideologist,  intoxicated  by 
beautiful,  sweeping,  painful  gestures. 

Eisner's  attitude  caused  considerable  excitement  in 
Munich  and  created  an  atmosphere  charged  with  elec- 
tricity. An  explosion  might  follow  at  any  moment. 
When  Eisner,  under  the  pressure  of  the  Bourgeois  ele- 
ment and  the  Majority  Social  Democrats,  finally  de- 
cided to  call  together  the  Bavarian  Constituent  Assem- 
bly, the  Communists  had  determined  to  make  its  open- 
ing session  the  signal  for  giving  battle.  Just  then  a 
strange  thing  happened.  The  Reactionaries  took  a  hand 
in  the  action.  On  February  21,  1919,  Eisner,  while  on 
his  way  to  the  session  of  the  Parliament,  was  shot  down 
°y  a.  young>  rattle-brained  Nationalist,  Count  Arco- 
Yalley,  and  only  half  an  hour  later  the  Communists 
forced  their  way  into  the  Diet  and  at  the  very  moment 
when  a  eulogy  in  honor  of  the  assassinated  Eisner  was 
to  be  pronounced  began  to  fire  on  the  ministers.  The 
Social  Democratic  minister  Auer  was  severely  wounded 
by  a  revolver  shot,  an  officer  and  a  delegate  were  killed. 
The  Bavarian  Soviet  Republic  was  now  proclaimed  and 
the  dark  days  of  Munich's  Red  Terror  were  ushered  in. 


XL 

WILHELM  KARL  DITTMANN 

Whenever  I  see  Dittmann  I  am  reminded  of  Hjalmar 
Ekdal  in  Ibsen's  Wild  Duck.  He  is  an  imposing,  im- 
pressive man  —  tall,  slender,  with  a  beautiful  mane  of 
light  brown  hair,  a  pointed  beard,  and  a  jaunty  mus- 
tache above  it.  Two  keen  eyes  that  one  does  not  soon 
forget.  But  there  is  something  about  him  that  makes 
him  a  bit  ridiculous  —  a  discrepancy  somewhere  be- 
tween will  and  ability,  between  what  he  really  is  and 
what  he  seems  to  be.  Like  the  difference  between  an 
artist  and  his  photograph,  between  a  scholar  and  the 
druggist  clerk  with  his  "  highfalutin' "  plans  while 
mixing  pills  and  salve. 

Hjalmar  had  a  liking  for  grand  sounding  words  which 
always  contradicted  his  actions.  Gregers  Werle  com- 
pares the  Ekdals  to  the  picture  of  a  wild  duck :  "  Div- 
ing under,  she  bit  into  the  seaweed  and  became  so  en- 
tangled that  she  could  not  come  up  again  unless  some 
dog  could  bring  her  up,  even  against  her  will." 

Dittmann  bit  into  radicalism  so  firmly  that  he  could 
not  come  up  again  although  he  longed  to  be  on  top. 
He,  too,  awaited  a  Gregers  Werle  to  pull  him  out.    He 

294 


WILHELM  KARL  DITTMAX 

was  drawn  into  the  revolutionary  cabinet  as  a  lusty 
Independent ;  daily  placed  before  new  and  practical  de- 
cisions, he  had  to  act,  to  show  his  colors.  All  at  once 
he  saw  that  nothing  was  ever  accomplished  by  mere 
criticism  or  pathos  —  that  one  did  not  get  very  far 
with  Ledebour  passion,  which  was  ready  to  demolish 
everything  at  once,  but  that  actions  also  meant  responsi- 
bility. In  these  few  weeks  of  governing  he  began  to 
slide  more  and  more  toward  the  Right  and  began  to 
approach  Ebert,  Scheidemann,  and  Landsberg,  the  once 
reviled  Social  Democrats. 

At  the  congress  of  councils,  when  Ledebour's  poison- 
ous arrows  prickled,  he  made  a  confession  of  faith  in 
common  socialism  which  unites  both  sides  in  spite  of 
momentary  problems  or  tactics.  He  admonished  his 
comrades  to  unite  for  the  National  Assembly  election, 
to  present  a  united  front  to  the  enemy,  capitalism,  and 
insure  the  safety  of  the  fruits  of  the  revolution.  He 
saw  his  Gregers  "Werle  in  the  masses,  who  would  act  in 
this  manner  whether  the  leader  will  or  no.  The  leader 
must  be  the  tool  of  the  masses.  The  radicals,  all  the 
big  and  little  Ledebours,  trembled  with  disgust  and  rage 
at  this  recalcitrant  who  had  suddenly  deserted  his  colors. 

In  the  last  act  Hjalmar  Ekdal,  with  a  pathetic  ges- 
ture, is  about  to  leave  his  wife,  Gina,  from  whose  past 
Gregers  Werle  lifted  the  veil.  He  packs  his  things,, 
gathers  up  all  the  odds  and  ends,  and  is  already  pulling 

295 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 


on  his  overcoat  when  Gina  all  of  a  sudden  places  bread, 
butter,  meat  and  beer  on  the  table.  Hjalmar  sees  it, 
sniffs  a  few  times  and  decides  to  remain  —  at  least  for 
a  moment.     He  stays  for  good. 

Dittmann  was  one  of  the  most  savage  in  the  battle 
against  the  backsliding  majority  Socialists  —  he  began 
to  rampage  with  hands  and  feet  if  he  only  smelled  them 
from  a  distance.  Then  they  placed  a  dish  of  meat  be- 
fore him  in  the  shape  of  a  seat  in  the  cabinet,  and  he, 
too,  decided  to  remain  —  for  a  time.  His  place  in  the 
Government  grew  cosier  and  for  a  few  weeks  he  left  the 
radicalism  to  his  companions  outside. 

From  the  very  beginning  he  had  served  Social  Demo- 
cracy. He  was  born  at  Eutin,  1874,  on  a  dull  Novem- 
ber day.  There  he  attended  the  people's  school  and  for 
four  years  learned  the  joiner's  trade.  He  had  a  firm 
fist,  went  at  a  job  energetically,  and  soon  made  the  chips 
fly.  The  Philistines  got  goose-flesh  when  he  began  to 
stir  up  the  proletariat  against  capitalism.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-one  he  became  member  of  the  party  and  the 
Trade  Union,  and  wandered  through  almost  the  whole 
of  Schleswig-Holstein,  Mecklenburg,  province  Branden- 
burg, and  finally  settled  in  Berlin.  Here  he  worshiped 
the  Great  Ones  from  afar  and  was  initiated  into  the 
higher  mysteries  of  socialism.  In  1899  he  was  sent  to 
Bremenshaven  as  editor  of  the  Norddeutsche  VoTks- 
stimme.     The  way  to  fame  and  success  lay  straight  be- 

296 


WILHELM  KARL  DITTMAN 

* 

fore  him.  Three  years  later  he  was  sent  in  the  same 
capacity  to  Solingen  and  was  called  from  there  to  Frank- 
furt am  Main  as  party  secretary.  He  was  the  first 
Social  Democrat  to  enter  the  city  council.  The  gods 
regarded  him  with  favor,  i.  e.,  the  party  gods.  For  he 
spoke  with  a  beautiful,  sonorous  voice,  made  an  impres- 
sion on  the  lovely  bevy  of  lady  cashiers,  and  when  he 
unleashed  his  anger  against  the  capitalistic  world  — 
when  he  pretended  to  have  the  key  to  the  realization  of 
Marx's  dogma  (Hjalmar's  secret  discovery)  then  his 
listeners  would  jump  from  their  seats  and  applaud  until 
the  walls  trembled.  With  fluttering  necktie  and  waving 
mane  he  could  bow  gratefully  while  the  young  ladies  of 
the  party,  their  modest  bosoms  decorated  with  red  rib- 
bons, whispered  in  each  others'  ears:  "Isn't  he  just 
grand !    Just  like  the  moving  picture  hero !  " 

In  1909  he  was  again  editor  in  Solingen.  He  had  to 
do  penance  for  many  an  impulsive  word  written  and 
spoken.  As  party  delegate  he  was  sent  to  Bremen, 
Leipzig,  Magdeburg,  and  Jena,  and  also  took  part  in  the 
International  Socialistic  Congress  at  Stuttgart  and  at 
Copenhagen.  It  was  rather  late  when  he  entered  the 
Reichstag  in  1912.  Here  he  settled  down  at  the  ex- 
treme left  wing  and  was  not  to  be  joked  with.  In  spite 
of  this,  he  approved  of  the  war  credit  and  participated 
in  the  policy  of  August,  1914,  until  he  was  at  last  initi- 
ated to  a  higher  knowledge  and,  together  with  Ledebour 

297 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

and  Haase,  separated  himself  from  the  Scheidemann 
people  —  his  bosom  friends  of  yesterday.  They  opened 
up  a  firm  of  their  own  —  the  Labor  party,  from  which 
sprung  the  Independent  Social  Democrats.  He  reached 
the  height  of  his  parliamentary  accomplishments  during 
the  prison  debate  when  he  carried  almost  the  whole 
House  with  him  with  his  well-tempered  pathos.  Be- 
hind the  scenes  he  was  not  backward  in  preparing  the 
way  for  the  revolution.  He  was  also  mixed  up  in  the 
mutiny  of  1917,  but  came  off  with  a  black  eye.  The 
next  time  he  was  not  so  fortunate  —  during  the  Janu- 
ary strike  in  Berlin,  when  he  was  really  trying  to  pour 
oil  on  the  troubled  waves,  he  was  arrested  while  making 
a  speech  to  the  demonstrating  masses,  and  put  behind 
the  bars. 

The  9th  of  November  brought  him  freedom  as  it  did 
many  others.  After  that  he  sat  in  high  council  with' 
the  people's  representatives  and  helped  to  decide  Ger- 
many's fate.  But  only  for  a  month  and  a  half.  After 
the  bloody  Christmas  day  before  the  palace  he  resigned 
from  the  cabinet,  together  with  his  "Independent" 
comrades,  because  the  people  on  the  street  demanded  it 
and  because  one  cannot  govern  long  with  two  souls  in 
one's  breast. 


XII 

ADOLPH  GROEBER 

A  Wiirttemberg  Democrat  of  the  old  stock,  for  when 
he  speaks  he  does  not  conceal  his  thoughts,  he  fires 
away  like  a  booming  cannon.  A  long,  grizzled  white 
beard  and  bushy  mane  of  hair  frame  his  ruddy  counte- 
nance. A  pair  of  spectacles  that  sit  astride  the  middle 
of  his  nose,  and  a  slightly  bent  figure  lend  Adolph 
Groeber  a  sort  of  comfortable  atmosphere;  Santa  Claus 
of  the  Center,  St.  Nicholas  with  his  sack  full  of  polit- 
ical toys.  His  father  used  to  be  a  manufacturer  of  toys 
somewhere  down  in  Riedlingen.  He,  the  son,  has  trans- 
formed the  same  material  into  intellect  and  now  plays 
with  politics.  Tin  soldier  or  politician  —  both  are 
shoved  around  by  the  rough  hands  of  fate  and  placed 
upright  again  when  they  tumble  down. 

Groeber  got  to  know  the  alternating  political  game 
better  than  most.  He  entered  the  Reichstag  in  1887, 
when  Bismarck  drove  the  anti-militarists,  Windhorst, 
Kichter,  and  Grillenberger,  into  a  combine,  when  he 
dissolved  Parliament  and  forged  the  cartel  of  Conserva- 
tives and  National  Liberals.  In  these  turbulent  times, 
when  other  Center  men  were  beaten,  he  came  off  victor 

299 


LEADEKS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

and  was  elected.  Two  years  later  he  was  sent  to  the 
Wiirttemberg  Landtag.  As  a  faithful  Eckart  of  Catho- 
lic democracy,  he  took  an  active  part  in  all  the  quickly 
changing  political  phases  of  that  time.  He  spread  his 
wide  coat  protectively  over  the  Poles  and  the  labor  rep- 
resentatives whenever  the  feudal  wing  of  the  Conserva- 
tives—  the  Junkers  and  Agrarians  —  lifted  up  their 
heads  too  impudently.  He  was  a  zealous  partisan  of 
social  politics,  and  regarded  the  Catholic  Church  and 
her  political  gate-keepers,  the  Center  party  in  Germany, 
as  something  above  the  State  —  as  international.  The 
teachings  of  the  Holy  One  were  meant  for  all  the  world, 
for  the  Latin,  as  well  as  the  Germanic  and  the  Slav  peo- 
ples. Even  the  negroes  were  not  excluded.  They  were 
all  human  beings  to  him  —  human  beings  who  thirsted 
after  the  salvation  of  their  souls.  God  loved  them  all 
equally  well  —  Jesus  and  Mother  Mary,  too.  Only  the 
saints  seemed  to  be  somewhat  partial.  Eor  instance, 
Cyrill  and  Methodius  had  their  preference  for  the  Poles, 
Czechs  and  Bulgarians;  Adelbertus  for  the  Lithuanians, 
and  St.  Joseph  .  .  .  Oh,  well,  you  know  all  the 
little  weaknesses. 

I  still  remember  about  ten  years  ago  how  friend  Mat- 
thias Erzberger  spoke  in  the  Reichstag  on  the  immor- 
tality of  the  negro's  soul.  Carried  away  by  his  own 
pathos,  he  almost  lost  himself  in  the  Elysian  regions  of 
the  black  man's  paradise.    It  was  a  long-winded  affair 

300 


ADOLPH  GROEBER 

and  the  tired  heads  of  the  assembly  soon  began  to  nod 
so  devoutly  one  might  think  sleep  was  about  to  overtake 
them.  At  this  juncture,  when  one  could  almost  hear  the 
seconds  ticking  past,  someone  on  the  tribune  laughed 
aloud.  Disturbed  in  his  religious  thoughts,  Groeber 
flung  a  curse  at  the  journalists'  bench:  "  These  jour- 
nalists, these  swine !  "  That  was  a  poke  in  a  wasp's  nest. 
The  journalists  were  indignant  and  struck.  They  went 
to  the  president  of  the  House  and  negotiations  began. 
The  president  wouldn't  apologize  and  Groeber  wouldn't. 
There  was  a  session  going  on,  but  the  world  never  knew 
anything  of  it.  Even  the  Beichsanzeiger  struck  with 
the  following  comment :  "  On  account  of  certain  pro- 
ceedings in  the  Reichstag  session  of  March  19,  1908, 
the  press  representatives  have  laid  down  their  work  for 
an  indefinite  period.  Therefore,  this  account  contains 
only  the  resolutions  brought  up  at  the  session  and  the 
declaration  of  the  Bundesrat  table."  The  strike  was 
sanctioned  by  the  Government.  Prince  Biilow,  who  was 
to  make  his  great  speech,  kept  putting  if  off  and  finally 
contrived  to  bring  about  a  compromise.  Mr.  Groeber 
apologized  and  the  meeting  went  on. 

Groeber's  position  in  the  party  was  not  affected  in 
the  least  by  this  little  episode.  He  continued  to  oppose 
the  Conservatives  and  his  power  kept  on  the  increase. 
He  was  the  third  after  Hertling  and  Spahn.  When 
Ilertling  was  called  to  the  Bavarian  cabinet,   Spahn 

301 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

became  Minister  of  Justice,  and  Eehrenbach  president 
of  the  Reichstag,  then  Groeber  became  first.  He  and 
Erzberger  set  the  pace  for  the  party  —  Groeber,  the 
elder,  holding  the  check-rein,  Erzberger,  the  younger, 
ever  pushing  forward.  Groeber  with  his  belief  in  polit- 
ical authority,  Erzberger  without  respect  for  tradition; 
Groeber,  champion  of  a  League  of  Nations  from  a 
Catholic  viewpoint,  and  of  universal  disarmament, 
Erzberger  his  tractable  pupil.  Groeber  was  the  party 
specialist  on  all  international  questions. 

No  wonder  he  had  gone  through  the  usual  juristic 
routine  —  from  barrister  in  Rottweil  to  director  of  the 
provincial  court  in  Heilbronn.  With  years  came  also 
the  burdens  of  political  offices.  He  entered  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  Center  party,  this  Folks  Yerein 
for  Catholic  Germany,  and  presided  frequently  on  great 
days.  At  last  he  was  leader  of  the  Center  faction  in 
the  Reichstag  and,  after  von  Payer,  leader  of  the  inter- 
factional  committee  of  the  Reichstag  majority  parties. 
After  having  neither  supported  nor  helped  to  overthrow 
the  Chancellor,  Count  Ilertling,  he  became  Secretary 
of  State  without  a  portfolio,  in  the  new  parliamen- 
tary Government.  With  von  Payer  and  Scheidemann 
he  formed  the  trifolium  about  the  new  Prince  Chan- 
cellor. They  who  had  been  sitting  in  the  critics'  par- 
quet were  now  active  players  on  the  political  stage. 

And  people  had  already  numbered  him  among  the 

302 


ADOLPH  GROEBER 

"  has-beens  "I  It  was  not  so  long  ago  that  he  was  seri- 
ously ill  and  sent  for  the  priest  to  administer  the  last 
sacrament  before  his  expected  departure  for  another 
world.  He  is  already  sixty-five  years  old  and  his  bur- 
dens have  grown  heavier  with  the  years. 

When  he  passes  through  the  corridors  of  the  Reichs- 
tag he  is  generally  encased  in  two  or  three  black  coats 
buttoned  up  to  the  neck.  In  Berlin  he  lives  in  a  modest 
Christian  hospice,  and  every  morning  he  takes  his  little 
airing  in  the  Tiergarten.  In  winter  when  the  snow 
covers  the  earth  and  he  goes  stamping  through  the  drifts, 
the  children  stand  still  and  ask  if  that  really  is  Santa 
Claus.     .     .     . 


SLII 

EMIL  EICHHOKN" 

I  knew  them  all  —  the  Berries,  Stubenrauch,  Jagow, 
and  Oppen  —  who  held  the  rascals  of  Berlin  in  check 
during  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years  with  an  army  of  blue- 
coats.  They  were  not  mere  police  presidents,  like  their 
colleagues  in  more  prominent  cities  —  they  were  more, 
they  were  Governors  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  accord- 
ing to  their  standing,  and  the  strongest  supports  of  the 
old  secular  system  that  was  centralized  in  Berlin. 
Direct  telephone  connections  with  the  palace,  with  all 
Imperial  official  buildings  and  the  Ministry  excluded 
all  chance  of  surprise.  A  little  pressure  on  a  button, 
a  flash  of  light  in  the  telephone  central,  and  the  thou- 
sand-windowed fortress  on  Alexanclerplatz  immediately 
vomited  forth  an  army  on  foot,  on  horse,  and  in  civilian, 
ready  to  dash  in  wherever  there  promised  to  be  trouble. 

In  this  Alexander  castle  the  president  was  enthroned, 
in  rooms  162-G3.  The  presidents  are  all  immortalized  by 
portraits  on  the  walls  of  the  reception  room,  like  pastors 
who  have  left  their  flocks  for  more  blissful  regions. 
Nineteen  portraits  already  hang  here.  The  first,  a 
lithograph  of  President  Gruner,  who  heads  the  list  in 
1809,  is  badly  faded.  Herr  von  Oppen,  who  had  to  fleo 
before  the  masses  as  they  poured  into  these  sacred  rooms 

304 


EMIL  EICHHORN 

during  the  Xovember  revolution,  did  not  have  time  to 
dedicate  his  portrait  to  the  ancestral  hall.  Herr  Eich- 
horn,  the  great  revolutionary  president,  had  still  less 
time,  and,  if  I  know  the  gentleman  well,  it  will  probably 
not  be  missed.  His  name  will  live  in  documents,  but 
he  will  not  be  placed  on  show. 

When  I  first  saw  him  in  all  his  new  dignity,  it  was 
at  a  conference  where  he  was  busy  expounding  new 
ideas.  A  haggard,  slender  man,  already  past  fifty,  yel- 
lowish complexion,  prominent  cheek-bones,  long,  greasy 
hair  carefullv  brushed  back  from  his  forehead,  a 
skimpy,  bluish-green  mustache  on  the  ends.  Heavens ! 
he  looked  harmless  enough,  simple,  modest,  and  pru- 
dent, a  regular  Philistine. 

As  he  unrolled  his  program,  how  good  it  sounded  — 
so  full  of  insight,  charity,  and  fairness !  Surely  things 
will  be  different  now !  "  But  you  must  give  me  time. 
It  can't  be  done  all  at  once.  The  policemen  shall  hence- 
forth be  called  Safety  men.  The  weapons  which  have 
caused  so  much  bad  blood  among  the  public  shall  be 
taken  away  from  them.  And  then  prostitution  shall  be 
regulated  in  a  different  manner;  the  criminal  police 
system  shall  be  reorganized.  And  then  of  course  you 
want  to  know  what  my  political  convictions  are.  I  am 
a  political  officer.  I  am  socialistic,  on  the  left  side  — 
Independent.  The  interests  of  the  people  are  the  most 
important  thing  to  me.     My  greatest  desire  is  that  the 

305 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AXD  TO-DAY 

people  of  Berlin  shall  have  confidence  in  me.  Oh, 
yes  —  they  talk  of  the  Bolshevists  over  there  in  Russia 
with  so  much  disgust.  Of  course  I  am  no  Bolshevist, 
but  the  people  should  not  let  themselves  be  so  easily 
fooled.  The  Bolshevists  are  not  as  black  as  they  are 
painted.  Most  reports  are  exaggerated.  And  the 
papers  —  yes  —  I  say  it  merely  to  show  that  even  if 
one  is  not  a  Bolshevist  one  must  be  fair  to  one's  oppo- 
nent. And,  as  I  said  before,  the  police  are  to  be  dis- 
armed.    Then  the  public  will  have  confidence  in  me." 

Heavens,  I  thought,  Social  Democracy  did  not  pitch 
out  a  mental  giant,  exactly,  for  the  head  of  their  police 
system.  I  quite  comprehend  that  the  majority  Socialist, 
Eugen  Ernst,  would  have  been  preferable.  But  Eich- 
horn  had  the  strongest  elbows  and  pushed  his  way  to 
the  front  an  hour  earlier.  In  order  to  keep  on  good 
terms  with  the  Independents  in  the  Government  they 
made  the  best  of  the  situation.  The  chief  of  the  chan- 
cellery, a  dignified  gentlemen  who  has  already  served 
six  or  seven  masters,  told  me  half-confidentially  that 
Mr.  Eichhom  was  always  very  pleasant  and  obliging, 
but    .     .     . 

But  what?  Well,  one  must  not  know  his  political 
past.  He  was  a  genuine,  easy-going  Saxon,  born  in 
Rohrsdorf  by  Chemnitz,  Germany's  political  storm 
pot.  Once  Johannes  Most,  the  savage  anarchist  and 
communist,  triumphed  there.     About  thirty  years  ago 

306 


EMIL  EICHHORN 

he  wrote:  "Give  us  a  thousand  wheelwrights  and  in 
three  months  the  revolution  will  be  there:  poison  and 
daggers,  dynamite  and  nitroglycerin,  revolvers  and 
torches,  shall  lay  waste  the  world    .     .     ." 

Eichhorn  had  nothing  in  common  with  Most's  hot- 
blooded  temperament ;  he  was  brought  up  on  slops  and 
butter  bread.  He  attended  the  public  school  and  later 
private  technical  institutes,  but  he  did  not  have  to  hide 
his  light  under  a  bushel  —  its  flame  was  scarcely  visible 
as  it  was.  Finally  he  became  —  Oh,  ye  Gods  and  nine 
Muses  —  a  glacier.  When  he  entered  the  Labor  Union 
movement  he  broke  a  good  many  party  windows.  In 
spite  of  his  easy-going  Saxon  disposition,  it  was  very 
soon  discovered  that  he  was  radical  —  super-radical. 
Nevertheless  he  woke  up  one  day  as  chairman  of  the 
Glaziers'  organization,  a  new  organizer  was  discovered. 

But  he  longed  for  intellectual  fields ;  the  glass-cutter 
had  served  its  purpose.  Glue  pot  and  scissors  —  these 
were  his  ideals  henceforth.  He  became  editor  in  Dres- 
den ;  now  he  could  shine  —  you  ought  to  have  seen  him. 
This  was  the  way  to  handle  the  scissors  and  dip  the 
brush  in  the  glue  pot !  This  was  the  way  to  show  the 
bourgeois  what  was  what.  But  before  he  could  finish 
this  war  on  paper  he  was  called  to  Karlsruhe  as  secre- 
tary of  the  Workers'  party.  Here  he  was  mild  as  butter 
because  the  South  Germans,  and  especially  the  Baden 
people,  were  not  fond  of  radicalism. 

307 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

He  climbed  high  and  higher,  became  editor  again 
in  Mannheim,  city  councillor  of  the  same  place,  and 
member  of  the  Baden  Landtag.  The  district  of  Pforz- 
heim-Durlach  sent  him  to  the  Reichstag.  Now  he  could 
show  these  crazy  Philistines  a  thing  or  two!  But  he 
didn't  —  he  enjoyed  himself  with  slops  and  butter 
bread  again.  Only  when  he  came  back  from  Berlin 
was  he  radical  once  more.  Gradually  the  Badener  party 
got  wise  to  the  fact  that  he  was  only  a  blustering  noodle- 
pate,  and  he  was  not  put  up  as  candidate  in  1912.  They 
had  had  enough  of  him. 

Now  he  angrily  burned  all  bridges  behind  him;  he 
left  ungrateful  Baden  and  settled  in  Berlin,  where  he 
found  a  small  position  in  the  Social  Democrat  press 
bureau.  He  was  Johnny-on-the-spot  at  the  party  split- 
up.  New  stars  beckoned,  new  successes.  He  stirred 
up  one  mess  after  another,  became  a  welcome  guest  of 
Liebknecht,  Riihle,  Dittmann,  and  Ledebour,  and  kept 
himself  fresh  in  their  minds  in  case  of  a  decisive 
change  in  the  party.  And  right-o  —  he  was  appointed 
chief  of  the  U.  S.  P.  D.'s  press  bureau.  When  Herr 
Joffe,  with  his  Bolshevik  staff,  took  possession  of  the 
Russian  embassy,  Eichhorn  and  his  wife  joined  the 
Rosta  —  that  notorious  Bolsheviki  espionage  factory  — 
for  the  sum  of  one  thousand  five  hundred  marks 
monthly.  Now  he  had  revolutionary  ground  under  his 
feet  and  could  prepare  for  that  which  was  to  come. 

308 


EMIL  EICHHORN 

At  last  tie  stood  there  as  police  president  of  Berlin 
with,  oh,  such  noble  intentions.  While  the  police  were 
being  disarmed  in  order  to  "  win  the  confidence  of  the 
public,"  he  was  secretly  arming  the  radical  Berlin 
laborers  and  gradually  turning  the  police  headquarters 
into  an  arsenal  and  a  fortress.  His  Spartacist  doings 
became  more  and  more  open  and  one  could  count  the 
days  on  one's  fingers  until  the  Red  Guard  was  to  be 
let  loose  on  Berlin.  The  socialistic  Government  hesi- 
tated, and  when  they  finally  removed  him  from  office 
it  was  the  signal  for  the  counter-revolution  from  the 
Left.  Eight  days  Berlin  was  a  battlefield  —  a  strug- 
gle between  Spartacists  and  the  Government.  One  bar- 
ricade after  another  was  taken  by  the  Government 
troops,  and  at  last  the  police  presidium  surrendered. 
In  the  meantime  Eichhorn  occupied  another  fortress, 
the  Botzow  brewery ;  when  this  was  threatened  he  fled. 

Eichhorn  is  a  very  questionable  figure.  He  was  not 
a  person  to  fight  openly  and  honestly  for  his  principles. 
Money  —  much  money  stuck  to  his  fingers.  He  sent 
many  a  one  to  his  death  who  believed  he  was  fighting 
for  political  faith.  He  let  loose  the  scum  of  Berlin 
against  peaceful  citizens;  in  grotesque  inversion  he  did 
his  best  to  make  Berlin  unsafe. 

This  intellectually  insignificant  man  in  the  mask  of 
a  Philistine  is  really  comical.  lie  can  boast  of  having 
turned  everything  topsy-turvy  for  a  few  weeks. 

309 


XLIII 

KARL  LIEBKNECHT 

Did  you  see  him  in  that  big,  automobile  truck 
speaking  to  the  crowd  pressing  around?  Did  you  see 
the  machine  guns  on  both  sides  of  him?  Did  you 
see  the  gloomy  eavesdroppers  in  the  midst  of  the  mass, 
their  hands  on  the  handle  of  the  revolver  in  their  pocket, 
ready  to  shed  their  blood  and  the  blood  of  others  for 
their  hero  up  there  on  the  wagon?  Do  you  feel  the 
uncanny,  suggestive  power  that  Liebknecht  pours  over 
the  solid  mass  of  people  when  he  speaks?  His  pro- 
truding eyes  roll  wildly  as  if  to  bore  the  brains  of  his 
audience.  His  hands  are  constantly  in  motion;  now 
he  tears  open  his  jacket,  strikes  his  chest  dramatically 
and  shrieks :  "  Brothers,  comrades,  shoot  me  dead  if 
what  I  say  is  not  true !  "  The  next  moment  he  runs 
his  ringers  through  his  hair,  thrusts  out  his  head  and 
hurls  these  words  at  his  listeners :  "  To  the  lamp-post 
with  Ebert  and  Scheidemann,  the  bloodhounds !  " 

The  people  become  excited  —  red  flags  are  unfurled, 
and  quickly  a  line  is  formed  to  parade  through  the 
center  of  Berlin. 

It  is  the  same  old  story  ever  since  the  revolution  has 
begun  to  feel  at  home.     The  Rote  F aline  prints  these 

310 


KARL  LIEBKNECHT 

Liebkneckt  and  Luxemburg  tirades  every  day.  The 
Berliner  used  to  feel  the  cold  chills  running  up  and 
down  his  back  when  he  read  them,  but  he  has  gradually 
grown  used  to  them  and  no  longer  takes  these  "  counter 
revolutions  "  tragically. 

Is  this  slender,  little  man  of  forty-seven  years  merely 
a  demon-ridden  fanatic  ?  Or  has  the  border  between 
intellect  and  madness  already  been  crossed  ? 

Let  us  look  back  over  his  life,  perhaps  we  shall  find 
the  key  there.  "Wilhelm,  his  father,  was  a  revolutionist 
of  '48,  and  took  part  in  the  Baden  uprising  which  was 
suppressed  by  Prussian  troops.  The  old  man's  socialis- 
tic principles  cost  him  something;  nowhere  did  he  find 
peace  or  rest  for  long.  Now  he  was  expelled  from  this 
place  and  now  from  that.  More  than  once  he  was  im- 
prisoned. One  year  after  Karl's  birth  he  and  August 
Bebel  were  sentenced  to  two  years  in  the  fortress  at 
Hubertusburg  for  treason.  Between  periods  of  exile 
and  imprisonment  he  wrote  for  the  newspapers,  for  the 
Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung,  the  Volksstaat,  and 
finally  for  the  Vorwdrts.  Besides  these  he  wrote  a 
great  many  socialistic  booklets  and  pamphlets,  mostly 
propagandistic.  Bismarck  persecuted  him  with  all  the 
energy  of  his  strong  personality.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  Franco-Prussian  war,  when  the  Reichstag  brought 
in  the  bill  for  war-credit,  Liebknecht  and  Bebel  with- 
held their  votes. 

311 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

The  boy  Karl  never  stood  very  well  with  his  father, 
who  was  idolized  by  the  proletariat  more  than  any  other 
party  veteran.  There  was  veiy  little  in  common  be- 
tween them  except  fanatic  conviction  and  an  excessive 
imagination.  The  father's  imagination,  however,  did 
not  extend  so  much  to  politics  —  he  was  always  prac- 
tical. But  it  was  different  with  Karl.  He  was  very 
stubborn  and  not  to  be  influenced  by  his  father.  In 
Leipzig,  where  he  was  born,  he  enjoyed  the  usual  mid- 
dle class  upbringing,  attending  the  grammar  school,  the 
Xicolai  gymnasium,  and  then  went  into  "  exile  "  with 
his  father  when  he  was  expelled  from  Leipzig  by  the 
socialistic  laws.  They  settled  for  the  time  being  in  the 
suburb,  Borsdorf.  Karl  took  his  examinations  in  Ber- 
lin and  entered  the  university  there.  Even  as  a  student 
he  carried  on  a  reckless  social  agitation,  always  be- 
longed to  the  most  radical  set,  and  was  a  welcome  guest 
at  the  laborers'  assemblies  in  the  north  and  east  of 
Berlin.  Only  one  thing  he  lacked,  and  that  was  the 
gift  of  speech.  He  spoke  very  indistinctly,  lisped,  and 
had  a  high,  falsetto  voice  which  changed  so  frequently 
that  his  hearers  almost  smiled  with  pity.  But  his  iron 
energy  overcame  even  this.  Like  Demosthenes,  he  did 
not  give  up  until  his  speech  was  distinct  and  clear, 
although  he  never  acquired  the  sonorous  resonance  he 
would  have  liked  to  possess.  He  longed  to  speak,  and 
if  he  displeased  the  people,  he  would  pour  so  much 

312 


KAKL  LIEBKtfECHT 

passion  into  his  words  that  they  would  be  compelled  to 
listen  to  him.    And  that  is  what  he  did. 

In  Wiirzburg,  where  the  world  at  the  foot  of  the 
proud  Marienburg  begins  to  be  fascinatingly  beautiful, 
he  received  his  Doctor  Juris  et  Berum  Politicarum. 
Restless  and  unmannerly,  he  passed  three  or  four  bar- 
rister years  in  Augsburg,  Paderborn,  and  Hamm,  always 
in  strict  Catholic  neighborhoods.  Curiously  enough, 
he  once  related  before  a  public  meeting  that  he  was 
directly  descended  from  Martin  Luther  on  his  father's 
side.  After  passing  the  examination  for  assistant  judge 
he  became  a  lawyer  and  settled  down  in  Berlin  like  his 
brother.  His  practice  increased  rapidly,  for  he  was 
after  all  the  son  of  a  famous  father.  The  proletariat 
swarmed  to  him  —  he  gradually  became  the  outcasts' 
defender.  His  following  in  the  socialistic  forum  also 
increased.  Through  his  reckless  radicalism,  which 
knew  no  bounds  even  then,  he  whipped  up  the  masses. 
He  often  got  a  dressing  down  from  old  Bebel,  who  soon 
broke  off  all  personal  relations  with  him,  although  he 
had  once  been  an  intimate  friend  of  the  father's. 

In  1902  Liebknecht  obtained  his  first  post  of  honor; 
he  became  city  councillor  and  a  member  of  the  Charity 
Board.  Six  years,  together  with  a  few  others,  he  en- 
tered the  Prussian  House,  which  up  to  now  had  been 
eocialistically  pure.  Here  he  fought  many  a  round 
with    the    dignified,    long-bearded,    Count    Schwerin- 

313 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Lowitz.  Like  a  naughty  boy,  lie  strained  at  the  regu- 
lations, sought  to  upset  the  petrified  traditions  of  the 
House,  and  tried  to  lead  a  small  class-campaign  on  his 
own  account. 

His  special  hobby  was  anti-militaristic  propaganda, 
which  he  carried  even  into  the  barracks.  His  little 
book,  Militarism  and  anti-Militarism,  left  no  doubt  as 
to  his  opinions.  The  court  interfered,  and  his  forensic 
dialectic  had  no  effect  on  the  red-robed  judges  at  Leip- 
zig; he  was  sentenced  to  one  and  a  half  years  at  the 
fortress  —  after  all  one  could  not  forbid  him  his  fanatic 
idealism.  He  was  sent  to  the  fortress  at  Glatz,  and 
here  he  had  time  to  think  over  his  life  and  make  plans 
for  the  future.  Between  these  gloomy  and  joyless  four 
walls,  in  the  midst  of  soldiers  eternally  coming  and 
going,  his  beliefs  became  the  more  firmly  fixed.  Hate 
and  repulsion  for  the  middle  classes,  capitalistic  and 
militaristic  society,  ate  deeper  and  deeper  into  his  soul. 
More  and  more  compelling  became  the  inner  command 
to  break  up  this  bourgeois  verein  by  a  revolution  of  the 
proletariat.  After  this  test,  after  the  days  and  nights 
of  brooding,  which  only  strengthened  his  ideals,  he 
again  issued  forth  into  the  midst  of  human  society. 
New  impulses  drove  him  to  new  actions.  In  1910  he 
went  to  America,  as  his  father  had  done  before  him, 
in  order  to  escape  the  suffocating,  political  atmosphere 
of  Germany.    Over  there,  across  the  great  pond,  he  was 

314 


KARL  LIEBKNECHT 

likely  to  become  enlightened.  He  would  see  capitalism 
in  all  its  power  and  monstrous  concentration,  and  see 
that  the  German  laborer  is  really  far  better  off  than 
his  brother  in  America. 

He  published  an  article  to  this  effect,  but  his  obser- 
vations did  not  affect  his  principles.  Soon  after  his 
return  he  again  mixed  in  the  whirlpool  of  radicalism. 
In  1912  he  was  sent  to  the  Reichstag  from  Potsdam- 
Osthavelland,  the  Kaiser's  district,  where  he  had  served 
in  the  Garde-Pioneer  Battalion.  Here  he  started  in 
with  a  will.  Once  when  he  was  planning  an  attack,  he 
sent  a  message  to  the  journalists'  tribune  asking  them 
to  speak  as  well  as  possible  of  him.  There  was  a  strong 
strain  of  vanity  in  him.  The  speech  was  against  Krupp 
and  the  ammunition  factories,  against  some  dark 
bribery  stories,  and  against  the  international  combina- 
tion of  the  Krupp,  Ehrhard,  Creusot,  Armstrong,  and 
all  the  other  ammunition  capitalists.  Great  was  the 
attention  his  revelations  attracted  at  home  and  abroad. 
Eor  days  Liebknecht  was  the  center  of  discussion. 
Conceit  began  to  fan  his  soul ;  he  began  to  strive  toward 
an  unattainable  goal.  When  the  Russian  Czar  was 
about  to  come  to  Germany  to  visit  his  grand  ducal 
brother-in-law,  Liebknecht  screamed  to  a  Magdeburg 
gathering:  "Germany  should  show  this  bloody  Czar 
the  door !  *  A  new  rumpus !  The  diplomats  calmed 
the  Russians  and  Liebknecht  was  held  for  trial. 

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LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

And  then  came  the  war.  "When  it  started  Liebknecht 
did  not  leave  the  assembly  room  as  did  Representative 
Kunert,  when  the  first  milliard  credit  was  being  voted 
for.  Bethmann-Hollweg  announced  in  a  loud  voice  that 
social  democracy  supported  the  Government  in  this 
"war  of  defense."  But  Liebknecht  soon  broke  over 
the  hurdle.  He  blustered  and  burrowed,  got  behind 
the  "  localists  "  those  anarchistic-socialistic  laborers  on 
the  periphery  of  the  Trade  Unions,  and  got  into  touch 
with  Rosa  Luxemburg  and  all  sorts  of  Russian  revo- 
lutionary elements.  Radek,  under  the  pseudonym  of 
Parabelhim,  published  his  incendiary  articles  in  the 
Berner  Tagwacht  against  the  militaristic,  traitorous, 
German  social  democracy.  Bebel  at  once  discovered 
that  Radek  was  a  rogue  and  kicked  him  out  of  the  party. 
Liebknecht  started  a  secret  propaganda  which  kept  the 
organization  busy  altering  their  position.  Once  in  the 
Reichstag  he  rushed  onto  the  podium  wildly  protest- 
ing against  the  "  wholesale  murder "  and  "  war-loan 
swindle."  An  uproar  was  the  result.  Dr.  Muller- 
Meiningen  sprang  up  in  greatest  excitement  —  it  almost 
came  to  blows  when  some  one  pulled  him  back  from  the 
platform.  The  president,  decrepit,  old,  Herr  Kaempf, 
rushed  around  in  despair  ringing  his  bell,  which  of 
course  no  one  heard.  He  afterwards  begged  the  press 
not  to  report  the  scandalous  affair,  so  it  was  passed  over 
in  silence  and  the  public  heard  nothing  of  it. 

316 


KARL  LIEBEN'ECHT 

The  Spartacus  letters  appeared  about  the  end  of 
1915.  Gray,  typewritten,  on  diverse  topics  —  length 
according  to  desire.  Flaming  protests  against  the  war, 
against  the  princes,  against  imperialistic  social  democ- 
racy, and  inciting  the  proletariat  to  revolution.  More 
than  once  one  of  these  letters  fell  into  my  hands.  Where 
they  came  from  I  do  not  know.  They  were  signed  — 
Spartacus.     One  laid  them  aside  with  a  smile. 

In  the  spring  of  1915  the  sheriff  got  hold  of  Lieb- 
knecht.  As  a  representative  he  was  immune,  therefore 
he  had  to  be  taken  in  the  act.  One  evening  he  dis- 
tributed inflammatory  circulars  on  Potsdamerplatz, 
crying  out  at  the  same  time :  "  Down  with  the  Gov- 
ernment !  "  He  was  arrested,  searched,  etc.  The  court 
besought  the  Reichstag  to  allow  them  to  institute  crim- 
inal proceedings  against  him.  And  the  Reichstag  did 
so,  although  it  was  but  a  political  offense  he  was  charged 
with.  Herr  von  Payer,  speaker  of  the  parties,  explained 
their  decision  thus :  "  The  fact  that  it  does  not  concern 
the  right  of  one  single  representative  but  that  it  con- 
cerns the  right  of  the  Reichstag,  makes  it  necessary 
to  investigate  in  such  a  case,  whether  the  House  and 
the  general  public  have  such  a  great  interest  in  the 
cooperation  of  the  member  concerned  that  it  may  in- 
terfere with  justice."  The  House  disregarded  all  good 
traditions  and  acted  politically  very  unwisely.  For 
now  the  martyr's  crown  was  placed  on  Liebknecht's 

317 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

head.  He  was  sentenced  to  two  years,  six  months,  peni- 
tentiary; was  not  disenfranchised,  however,  because 
the  court  expressed  the  opinion  that  he  was  not  actuated 
by  dishonorable  motives  but  that  political  fanaticism 
had  been  the  mainspring  of  his  actions.  Inveighing 
against  the  reactionary  or  Alldeutsch  press  or  the 
National  Military  Court  was  punishable  with  almost 
double  the  sentence  and  disenfranchisement. 

Liebknecht  entered  the  prison  house :  a  new  test.  But 
still  he  remained  unenlightened;  things  had  already 
gone  too  far.  Hate  ate  deeper  and  deeper;  fanatic 
idealism  became  idiosyncrasy.  His  nerves  went  to 
pieces  in  the  many,  many  hours  of  suffocating  loneli- 
ness. Martyred  and  brooding,  but  one  thing  danced 
before  his  eyes:  Down  with  the  system!  Give  it  the 
death-blow  if  the  whole  world  goes  down  with  it ! 

Prince  Max's  cabinet,  with  Secretary  Scheidemann, 
presented  him  with  freedom.  Would  he  restrain  him- 
self now,  give  his  nerves  the  rest  they  need?  No,  he 
sprang  into  the  midst  of  political  life  once  more.  A 
new  propaganda  began  and  in  a  few  days  the  revolu- 
tion was  there. 

Liebknecht  triumphed;  this  was  his  revolution  — 
this  was  why  he  fought  and  suffered.  On  the  first  revo- 
lution night  he  slept  in  the  bed  of  Wilhelm  II.  His 
thirst  for  revenge  was  slaked.  Now  he  could  help  to 
build  up  the  new  Freedom.    But  when  the  cabinet  was 

318 


KARL  LIEBKNECHT 

formed  and  he  was  invited  to  take  part  in  it,  he  re- 
fused, went  over  to  the  left  and  organized  the  Spartacus 
spectacle — German  Bolshevism.  And  what  he  planned 
was  terror,  what  he  saw  was  rage,  what  he  spoke  was 
chastisement,  and  what  he  screamed  was  blood. 

A  mixture  of  idealism,  fanaticism,  vanity,  and  psy- 
chosis.    One  would  like  to  send  for  a  nerve  specialist. 

In  civil  life  he  is,  or  was  at  least,  an  extraordinarily 
pleasant  man  who  blushed  like  a  schoolboy  when  spoken 
to.  This  day  he  fled  like  a  hunted  animal  from  one 
place  to  another.  He  never  remained  more  than  one  or 
two  days  in  the  same  hotel;  an  auto  was  ever  ready 
at  hand.  "Were  the  sheriffs  really  after  him?  When 
he  staged  the  second  revolution,  when  he,  Ledebour, 
and  Scholze  established  a  Spartacist  secondary  Govern- 
ment and  conjured  up  a  week  of  blood  for  Berlin, 
Xoske,  his  one-time  party  comrade,  brought  up  artillery 
and  infantry  against  them,  and  it  became  a  struggle  for 
life  or  death. 

The  uprising  was  put  down.  Liebknecht  was  con- 
quered and  surprised  in  secret  conference  with  Rosa 
Luxemburg.  They  were  arrested  and  taken  to  prison. 
The  auto  broke  down  and  Liebknecht  tried  to  escape. 
At  least  this  is  the  story  his  military  guards  told. 
Three  shots,  and  his  body  lay  stretched  on  the  ground. 

But  his  fame  will  live  after  him  —  the  fame  of  a 
herostratus. 


XLIV 

WALTER  ADRIAN  SCHUCKING 

Before  the  war,  when  one  spoke  of  pacifism  to 
otherwise  well-educated  people,  they  would  regard  one 
pityingly  from  the  side  and  shrug  their  shoulders: 
"  Another  one  who  believes  in  a  world  peace.  And  he 
wants  to  be  a  practical  politician,  wants  to  be  taken 
seriously !  "  That  was  the  general  view :  exaggerated 
utopianism.  This  contemptuous  rejection  of  a  mag- 
nificent  and  practical  political  idea  springs  in  ninety- 
nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred  from  ignorance  of  what 
modern  pacifism  really  means.  One  conjures  up  a 
blurred  picture  of  a  communistic  paradise  of  universal 
peace,  without  any  idea  of  how  much  practical  work 
has  really  been  done  to  create  a  political  and  interna- 
tional peace  organization. 

"Whoever  knows  a  little  of  history  ought  to  know  that 
this  thought  has  been  seeking  expression  for  over  two 
thousand  years.  At  first  it  was  the  shimmering  Fata 
Morgana  of  a  universal  kingdom  which  haunted  the 
brains  of  men  even  as  late  as  Napoleon  III.  Imperial 
Rome,  in  a  frenzy  of  expansion,  almost  created  a  world 
empire.    In  the  Middle  Ages  the  Catholic  Church  rep- 

320 


WALTER  ADRIAN"  SCHUCKING 

resented  this  idea  —  the  Kaisers  were  but  executive 
officials  of  this  Christian  central  organization.  The 
Reformation  dissolved  the  unity  of  the  medieval  world. 
The  cabinet  and  coalition  wars  began;  politicians  and 
scholars  agitated  for  a  federation  of  States  in  order  to 
bring  about  a  permanent  peace.  From  Campanella, 
Ernst  II,  the  Landgraf  von  Hessen-Rheinfels,  Sully, 
down  to  Saint  Pierre  and  to  Kant,  who,  in  contrast  to 
the  monarchists,  called  upon  the  people  themselves  to 
form  a  federation  of  constitutional  states. 

The  Napoleonic  wars  brought  a  wave  of  nationalism 
over  Europe  which  still  surges  against  the  cliffs  of  a 
future  peace.  Only  a  few  held  fast  to  the  great  humani- 
tarian thoughts  of  our  forefathers  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury during  this  nationalistic  intoxication  which  took 
hold  of  almost  the  whole  of  German  intelligence  before 
the  war.  Most  were  ashamed  to  cherish  just  or  noble 
thoughts  in  regard  to  internationalism,  and  where  the 
borders  ended  they  closed  the  Bible,  the  catechism, 
and  the  choral  book,  too.  The  mockery  and  contempt  of 
society,  where  the  tone  was  given  by  officers  and  assist- 
ant judges,  was  harder  to  bear  than  their  own  bad  con- 
science when  they  acted  against  the  dictates  of  their 
better  feelings. 

Whoever  openly  confessed  being  a  pacifist  was  imme- 
diately branded  a  dreamer,  an  enthusiast,  and  an  enemy 
of  the  nation  in  the  eyes  of  all  correct  people,  the  Tag- 

321 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

liche  Rundschau  and  the  Deutsche  Tageszeitung, —  he 
had  no  feeling  for  nationality,  he  must  surely  be  a  Jew. 
It  was  best  not  to  associate  with  such  people.  Only  a 
few  firm  characters  were  not  to  be  challenged  and  made 
no  concessions. 

One  such  was  Walter  Schiicking  who  knew  what  it 
was  to  swim  against  the  current  for  fifteen  years.  He 
represented  a  part  of  the  history  of  sufferings  which 
pacifism  underwent  in  Germany  for  many  years,  until 
through  a  horrible  deluge  of  blood  it  came  forth 
victorious. 

The  Schiickings  were  all  idealists,  men  who  were  true 
to  themselves,  who  drove  straight  for  the  goal.  They 
were  men  of  ideas,  of  imagination,  and  yet  they  were 
practical  thinkers  and  writers,  too  —  Lewin  Schiicking, 
author  and  friend  of  Freiligraph  and  Erau  Droste- 
Hiilshoff,  was  Walter's  grandfather,  Luise  von  Gall,  the 
novelist,  his  grandmother.  He  inherited  his  critical 
reasoning  powers  from  his  father,  Lothar  Schiicking, 
director  of  a  provincial  court.  And  from  his  mother's 
side  a  bit  of  the  oppositional  democratic  spirit  of  the 
old  progressive  party.  At  home  they  said  he  was  the 
image  of  his  grandfather,  Heinrich  Beitzke.  Grand- 
father was  a  sturdy  Progressive  representative  in  the 
sixties,  and  the  only  man  who  had  the  courage  to  oppose 
single-handed  the  Bismarck-Roonsche  military  organi- 
zation.    He  battled  continually  for  the  old  Landwehr 

322 


WALTER  ADRIAN  S CHUCKING 

system,  and  was  a  sworn  enemy  of  the  militarizing  of 
Prussia.  In  his  history  of  the  German  war  of  inde- 
pendence, 1813-1815,  he  pays  the  highest  tribute  to 
the  Prussian  Landwehr. 

Walter  Schiicking  was  born  in  Munster,  1875.  A 
tall,  slender,  thoughtful  man,  a  hard-headed,  uncom- 
promising Westphalian  to  whom  conviction  was  every- 
thing. In  personal  relations  one  of  the  softest,  most 
obliging  of  men,  at  times  like  a  dreamy  professor  of 
the  old  type. 

He  attended  the  Pauliner  gymnasium  at  Munster. 
His  idealism  and  upright  character  showed  itself  early. 
While  still  a  youth  he  refused  to  copy  or  sneak.  The 
others  regarded  him  somewhat  askance  for  this.  At 
the  universities  of  Bonn,  Munich,  Berlin,  and  Gottingen 
he  studied  history,  political  and  national  science.  As 
a  student  in  the  nineties  he  showed  himself  a  modern 
idealist  and  was  against  the  student's  corps.  There  was 
an  heirloom  in  the  family,  a  copy  of  Hugo  Grotius'  De 
Jure  Belli  ac  Pads,  which  no  one  studied  as  diligently 
as  Walter.  For  two  hundred  years  it  had  been  the  cus- 
tom for  each  member  of  the  family  to  write  his  name 
on  the  title  page  of  this  book. 

As  the  pupil  of  von  Bar,  professor  of  international 
law,  he  habilitated  himself  in  Gottingen.  His  memorial 
on  the  "  Seacoast  and  International  Rights "  won  a 
prize.     At  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  after  two  years  at 

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LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Breslau,  tie  was  called  to  Marburg  as  professor  of  na- 
tional and  international  law.  Althoff,  the  all-powerful 
minister  of  education,  valued  him  highly.  It  seemed 
as  if  a  quick  rise  was  in  store  for  "Walter  Schiicking, 
but  such  was  not  the  case. 

He  became  democratic,  national-socialistic,  and  in- 
dependent. This  was  more  than  the  Royal  Prussian 
Ministerial  Director  could  stand.  Althoff  told  him  one 
day  that  of  course  he  could  lecture  on  whatever  he 
pleased,  but  whether  the  State  would  make  use  of  him 
as  a  teacher  was  a  different  thing.  This  was  the  first 
box  on  the  ear.  He  was  done  for  in  Marburg.  When 
he  became  chairman  of  the  Liberal  Yerein  of  Marburg, 
the  other  professors'  wives  made  his  wife  calls  of  con- 
dolence and  explained  that  it  would  probably  be  diffi- 
cult for  her  to  remain  a  member  of  their  circle  any 
longer.  That  was  the  way  it  looked  a  few  years  ago  in 
the  professors'  republic.  "We  needed  a  new  writer  of 
burlesques. 

But  it  was  no  joke  for  Walter  Schiicking;  his  path 
of  thorns  was  just  beginning.  He  sank  further  and 
further  in  disfavor.  When  he  publicly  declared  the 
Polish  expropriation  laws  to  be  a  national  disgrace,  he 
received  a  rebuke  from  the  Minister  of  Education  and 
for  this  reason  was  expelled  from  the  legal  examining 
committee. 

For  many  years  his  pupils  had  the  greatest  difficulty 

324 


AY  ALTER  ADRIAN  SCHUCKING 

in  getting  ahead;  Schiicking  was  looked  down  upon 
everywhere.  It  was  a  fight  in  the  dark,  but  he  held  out. 
How  glad  they  would  have  been  to  be  rid  of  him !  While 
his  scientific  works  were  everywhere  else  recognized, 
the  Marburg  faculty  considered  him  nothing  but  a 
"  spoiler  of  our  youth."  Naturally  under  these  circum- 
stances his  election  for  the  Rectorship  was  not  to  be 
thought  of.  There  was  Professor  Enneccerus,  a  miser- 
able, old  national  chief,  a  ruffian  who  sought  to  hold 
Schiicking  under  with  brutal  words.  Schiicking  was  a 
man  of  fine  sensibilities  and  no  doubt  suffered  under 
this  treatment,  but  he  overcame  it  all.  Only  his  fea- 
tures acquired  a  trace  of  bitterness  as  time  wore  on. 
His  worst  enemies  were  the  curators  of  the  Marburg 
University.  They  were  angry  because  this  intellectu- 
ally and  politically  infected  man  had  the  largest  attend- 
ance of  students.  They  instituted  a  disciplinary  inves- 
tigation against  him  on  the  ground  of  things  they  had 
heard  over  their  beer  mugs  concerning  his  lectures.  In 
the  summer  of  1911  one  of  these  curators  told  him  they 
would  give  him  the  desired  one  semester  vacation  for 
scientific  research  purposes  if  he  would  first  go  to  the 
Minister  of  Education  and  tell  him  he  had  changed  his 
political  views. 

And  this  when  the  war  broke  out!  Schiicking  was 
one  of  the  first  to  be  put  on  the  black  list.  The  Eleventh 
Army  Corps  gave  the  order  that  he  was  not  to  publish 

325 


LEADERS  OF  YESTEEDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

any  more  of  his  international  ideas  or  to  express  them 
even  theoretically,  and  that  all  correspondence  with  for- 
eign scholars  was  to  cease.  He  could  neither  travel 
abroad  nor  anywhere  near  the  German  frontiers, — -  and 
this  was  a  man  of  international  reputation ! 

His  connections  were  many  and  wide:  Lammasch, 
Streit,  Constant  d'Estournelles,  Sir  Thomas  Barclay, 
and  James  Brown  Scott  were  but  a  few.  In  the  mean- 
time he  had  been  appointed  member  of  the  Institut 
du  Droit  International.  His  works,  The  Use  of  Mines 
in  Sea  Warfare,  The  Organization  of  the  World,  The 
Worh  Done  at  the  Hague,  The  Hague  League  of  Na- 
tions, are  rich  with  ideas  and  practical  suggestions  in 
regard  to  the  most  important  problems  of  pacifism  and 
internationalism.  But  it  was  war  and  every  word  in 
regard  to  an  understanding  was  hated  by  the  military 
authorities.  Pacifism  was  looked  upon  as  unlawful 
rivalry  of  the  war  business  and  was  forbidden  on  that 
ground;  it  was  almost  wiped  out.  The  under-omcer 
commands,  and  the  undesired  thought  has  but  to  com- 
mit suicide. 

His  letters  were  opened ;  telegrams  from  abroad  were 
held  back  for  months.  He  was  lucky  to  escape  im- 
prisonment. In  the  spring  of  1915,  with  the  aid  of  the 
Foreign  Office,  he  was  allowed  to  attend  a  conference 
at  The  Hague.  When  he  returned  he  brought  the 
Dutch  Under-Secretary  of  State  Dresselhuis'  offer  to  act 

326 


WALTER  ADRIAN  S CHUCKING 

as  peace  intermediary.  But  he  received  the  brusque 
order  to  telegraph  Dresselhuis  that  he  should  stay  at 
home. 

Schiicking's  idea  of  organizing  international  rela- 
tions on  a  pacific  basis  was  fought  for  years  by  the  very 
people  who  now  defend  his  ideas  the  loudest.  Now  that 
the  war  was  ended  and  even  the  greatest  militarists  were 
shrieking  for  a  reconciliation,  Schiicking's  time  had 
come.  He  had  passed  the  last  station  of  suffering.  His 
day  had  dawned.  The  Democrats  elected  him  to  the 
National  Assembly.  As  the  second  speaker  of  the  party 
he  made  a  great  speech  with  a  compact  conception  of  the 
whole  which  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  House. 
The  Conservatives  protested  and  the  chauvinists  barked. 

The  Government  appointed  him  head  of  the  com- 
mittee for  investigation  of  the  treatment  of  war  pris- 
oners in  Germany,  and  sent  him  to  Versailles  as  peace 
delegate.  As  a  logical  pacifist  he  rejected  the  peace 
conditions  dictated  by  the  Entente. 

The  last  shall  be  first,  says  the  Bible.  The  shadows 
have  departed  from  Schiicking's  path  and  he  can  strive 
openly  toward  his  goal.  That  which  lies  behind  was 
only  a  tormenting  dream  —  the  old,  reactionary,  petty, 
tradition-bound  Prussia  in  the  shape  of  a  small  uni- 
versity town. 

Now  he  can  breathe  freely  in  the  pure  morning  air 
and  exercise  mind  and  body  at  will. 

327 


XLV 

GUSTAV  NOSKE 

Open  your  Roman  history  books.  There  you  will 
find  historical  pictures  which  bear  great  resemblance  to 
the  unrest  of  the  present  Germany,  still  trembling  from 
revolution  and  war.  There  are  the  same  gloomy  fac- 
tors: the  proletariat  returning  from  long  years  of  war, 
of  butchery  and  murder,  to  reach  out  after  the  golden 
thrones  of  those  who  remained  at  home. 

Marius,  the  farmer's  son,  had  put  down  the  African 
uprising,  had  freed  Italy  from  the  forbidding  Cimbri 
and  Teutons,  and  now  returns  home  to  Rome.  His 
unoccupied  army  began  to  cry  out  for  land,  for  prop- 
erty, for  work.  But  the  Conservatives,  the  nobles  as 
well  as  the  most  radical,  the  idlers  and  scum  of  the 
Roman  streets,  protested  against  favoring  the  veterans, 
both  from  selfish  motives.  Both  had  to  relinquish  some- 
thing: the  nobles  would  have  had  to  give  up  land,  and 
the  mob  their  political  pampering  and  state  support. 
Marius  called  his  veterans  into  the  city  and  politics 
were  made  with  the  club.  Terror  swept  over  Rome. 
The  property  owners  began  to  cringe;  even  Marius 
seemed  to  shudder  before  the  spirits  he  had  conjured 
up.     As  a  soldier  and  commander  of  the  army,  order 

328 


HI 


GUSTAV  NOSKE 

and  discipline  were  everything  to  him.  In  this  hour 
of  hesitation  the  nobles  approached  him  with  hypo- 
critical words,  and  when  the  next  deed  of  violence  en- 
dangered the  Fatherland,  as  the  Senate  declared,  he 
offered  to  put  down  the  rising.  His  companions  of  yes- 
terday were  driven  to  the  Capitol  and  before  Marius 
could  prevent  it,  they  were  stoned  to  death  by  the  en- 
raged noble  youths  with  the  tiles  from  their  prison  roof. 
Marius  was  done  for  completely.  All  the  great  reforms 
were  ended  before  one  step  had  been  taken  toward  their 
realization. 

Is  Gustav  ISToske  a  Marius  ?  I  do  not  know.  He  has 
won  no  battles  and  planned  no  campaigns.  But  like 
Marius  he  has  come  up  from  the  bottom,  and  his  mas- 
sive, rough  strength  lies  in  his  energy.  He  is  a  tall, 
almost  boorish  fellow,  and  has  spent  twelve  years  as  a 
snarling  under-officer.  He  is  a  wood-chopper  by  profes- 
sion, and  a  dissenter.  His  almost  square  head  is 
covered  with  a  stiff  brush  of  dark  brown  hair  which 
grows  low  over  his  forehead.  A  tremendous  mustache 
shades  his  mouth.  Gold-rimmed  spectacles  soften  the 
rough  features.  Whenever  he  speaks  in  Parliament 
there  is  generally  a  surprise.  He  speaks  roughly  and 
clumsily  but  to  the  point ;  it  is  like  a  huge  ax  chopping 
down  a  tree,  an  intellectual  wood-chopper.  A  man  of 
will  through  and  through,  concentrated  decision,  cold- 
blooded strength  and  power,  it  is  an  unalloyed,  esthetic 

329 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

joy  to  hear  him  dividing  his  rough-hewn  chips  between 
the  Right  and  Left.  If  someone  contradicts  he  is  not 
disturbed,  but  goes  quietly  on  with  his  square-built 
speech,  neatly  throwing  in  the  answer. 

Is  the  politician  Noske  fashioned  in  the  same  mould  ? 
Hardly.  He  is  Prussian,  born  in  the  Mark  —  a  pro- 
letarian who  hungered  his  way  to  sturdy  manhood,  a 
fir  tree  which  cannot  quite  become  a  pine  in  spite  of  its 
height,  for  the  ground  on  which  it  grew  was  only  the 
sandy  soil  of  the  Mark.  He  was  a  Social  Democrat,  an 
opposer,  but  he  saw  another  and  higher  sort  of  human 
being  in  those  who  were  not  of  the  proletariat.  He  was 
not  an  equality  enthusiast,  nor  a  social  fanatic  who  be- 
lieved in  August  Bebel's  thousand-year  kingdom.  He 
was  a  corporal  of  Social  Democracy  who  reckoned  with 
the  realities  of  political  life. 

His  career  is  quickly  told.  His  father  still  sat  at  the 
weaving  frame  while  Gustav  went  to  the  people's  school 
and  later  to  grammar  school.  Thereupon  he  became  a 
wood-chopper  and  wandered  to  Halle,  to  Frankfurt  am 
Main,  and  then  to  Liegnitz.  Toward  the  end  of  the 
eighties,  while  Bismarck's  socialistic  laws  were  still  in 
force,  he  entered  the  labor  movement.  In  1896  he  be- 
came editor  of  the  Social  Democrat  paper  in  his  native 
city,  Brandenburg.  Two  years  later  he  was  engaged  in 
the  same  capacity  at  Xonigsberg  in  Prussia,  and  five 
years  later  he  was  editor-in-chief  of  the  Volksstimme 

330 


GUSTAV  KOSKE 

in  Chemnitz.  Since  the  beginning  of  the  century  he 
has  been  city  councillor  in  East  Prussia  as  well  as  in 
Saxony.  He  entered  the  Reichstag  in  1906,  during  the 
colonial  rumpus  when  Biilow  broke  with  the  Center  and 
dissolved  the  session. 

In  the  Reichstag  he  held  fast  to  the  right  wing  of  the 
party  and  was  soon  the  army  and  navy  specialist.  His 
book  on  Colonial  Policy  and  Social  Democracy  appeared 
later,  in  1914.  He  seemed  to  be  the  right  person  for  the 
army  budget,  was  sent  to  the  commission,  and  finally 
became  assistant  reporter.  This  was  no  small  affair. 
He  was  petted  and  pampered  by  the  military.  The 
most  secret  things  were  whispered  in  his  ear.  He  saw 
the  storm  clouds  gathering  over  Germany;  secret  sit- 
tings began  to  increase.  Noske  participated  in  every- 
thing year  in  and  year  out,  even  Tirpitz's  naval  policy, 
in  his  blind  love  for  the  navy.  1914,  1915,  1910,  1917, 
1918.  jSToske's  faith  is  not  to  be  shaken.  He  believes 
in  German  militarism  without  approving  of  an  all  too 
conspicuous  development. 

In  October,  1918,  things  began  to  stir  on  the  water 
front.  It  had  been  expected  earlier  in  the  month  but 
only  broke  on  the  twenty-eighth.  Officers  had  called  for 
men  for  a  last  stand  against  England.  This  was  the 
match  in  the  powder  barrel.  Three  times  they  pre- 
vented the  vessels  from  putting  out  to  sea.  The  crews 
mutinied.     Officers  were  dismissed.    A  battle  of  every- 

331 


LEADERS  OE  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

body  against  everybody  else  threatened  to  break  out  in 
the  harbor.  Finally  the  third  squadron  steamed  toward 
Kiel.  The  chief  hoped  to  ward  off  the  worst  by  this 
maneuver.  Many  got  a  furlough  on  land.  "  They 
could  wear  off  their  spirits  in  pleasures."  A  mob  col- 
lected in  the  streets  and  marched  to  the  Union  house. 
There  was  a  meeting,  political  debates,  but  no  one 
thought  of  a  revolution.  The  day  passed  quietly  —  it 
was  the  first  of  November.  On  Saturday  the  sailors 
found  the  Union  house  closed.  The  few  had  grown  to 
six  hundred.  Excitement  prevailed.  Eire  begins  to 
gleam  under  the  ashes.  Sunday  comes.  Two  hundred 
condemned  sailors  from  the  Marhgraf  are  to  be  brought 
on  land  and  taken  to  prison.  When  they  were  to  be  set 
on  land  one  of  the  guards  refused  to  do  his  duty.  All 
but  a  very  few  declared  themselves  on  his  side,  but  the 
delinquents  were  unloaded  somehow.  In  the  meantime 
the  Union  was  set  in  motion.  They  were  mostly  Inde- 
pendent Social  Democrats.  Circulars  were  distributed ; 
the  stone  began  to  roll.  In  the  evening  ten  thousand 
marched  to  the  prison  and  freed  the  condemned  sailors. 
There  was  a  conflict  with  the  soldiers.  Eight  dead  re- 
mained on  the  pavement.  The  Governor  of  Kiel  and 
leaders  of  the  Social  Democratic  party  begged  the  Gov- 
ernment in  Berlin  to  send  a  cabinet  member.  The  Ber- 
lin press  was  not  allowed  to  report  what  took  place. 
"  Harmless  street  fight.  A  few  dead.  Of  no  importance." 

332 


GUSTAV  NOSKE 

The  air  was  growing  sultry.  Revolution  began  to 
show  its  head.  The  Governor  negotiated  with  a  depu- 
tation of  sailors.  On  both  sides  courtesy  and  obliging- 
ness. In  the  meantime  ISToske  and  Secretary  Hauss- 
mann  arrived  at  Kiel.  JNToske  was  wholly  unknown 
there,  but  he  soon  got  into  touch  with  the  people.  His 
one  idea  was  to  create  order  as  soon  as  possible  and 
allay  the  excitement.  He  had  no  idea  what  was  under 
way  and  what  would  spread  like  wildfire  over  the  whole 
nation.  Regular  negotiations  began;  anxious  hours 
passed.  On  the  6th  of  November  Noske  advised  the 
sailors  to  be  reasonable.  The  day  after  the  whole  scene 
had  changed.  Revolution  took  the  country  by  storm. 
Only  Berlin  was  quiet.  Noske  was  made  Governor  of 
Kiel.  Within  a  few  hours  he  issued  his  first  mandate : 
"  The  food  is  to  be  uniform.  .  .  .  Sailors  are  no 
longer  to  be  addressed  in  the  third  person." 

On  the  9th  of  November,  as  Ebert  took  the  portfolio* 
from  the  hands  of  Prince  Max,  Noske  already  felt  him- 
self an  official  revolutionist.  It  was  up  to  him  to  create 
order  in  Berlin. 

Weeks  passed  by;  the  Independents  in  the  cabinet 
began  to  murmur.  Haase,  Dittmann,  and  Barth  re- 
signed. The  first  unrest  flared  up  in  Berlin.  The 
People's  marine  division  rebelled.  The  Christmas  bat- 
tle for  the  possession  of  the  palace  began.  The  majority 
Socialists  took  the  places  of  the  departing  Independents. 

333 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY 

Noske  was  one  of  these.  He  was  looked  upon  as  a 
etrong  man.  Ledebour,  Liebknecht,  Eichhorn,  and 
Scholz  were  secretly  preparing  a  Spartacist  insurrection. 
The  second  revolution  began.  But  Noske  was  not  yet 
ready.  Hours  and  days  of  tension  followed.  The  ma- 
jority Social  Democrat  organization  patrolled  the 
streets  for  days  in  order  to  protect  the  Ebert-Scheide- 
mann  Government. 

Finally  Noske  was  ready.  Hoffmann,  the  General 
of  Brest-Litowsk  fame,  was  his  silent  Chief  of  the  Staff 
for  the  retaking  of  Berlin.  The  city  was  surrounded; 
Government  troops  marched  in  from  all  sides.  The 
buildings  occupied  by  the  Spartacists  were  recaptured. 
Hand  grenades  and  machine  guns  were  at  work  — 
Berlin  was  a  bloody  battle  field. 

Noske  triumphed,  the  victory  was  his.  A  Hinden- 
burg  of  the  proletariat?  Or  a  Ludendorff  of  the 
"upper"  circles? 

At  the  National  Assembly  it  was  a  matter  of  course 
that  Noske  was  to  be  the  new  Minister  of  War.  His 
was  the  task  of  building  up  a  new  army.  Compulsory 
service  was  not  yet  done  away  with  by  law.  But  in 
reality  it  was  a  thing  of  the  past.  Two  new  army  and 
navy  bills  were  put  through  in  double-quick  time.  The 
wild  volunteer  system  with  all  its  usual  methods  of 
advertisement  was  instituted  in  its  place.  A  modest 
territorial  army  was  recruited:  one  hundred  and  fifty 

334 


GUSTAV  NOSKE 

marks  with  five  marks  extra  a  day,  free  board  and  uni- 
form. Military  service  soon  became  a  lucrative  business. 

The  third  revolution  was  approaching.  Everywhere 
strikes  were  blazing  up,  the  Communists  at  the  front, 
the  Independents  not  far  behind  in  order  not  to  lose 
their  contact  with  the  radical  masses.  "  What  has  the 
Government  done  to  fulfill  the  promises  of  the  Social 
Revolution  ?  "  they  asked.  "  Nothing !  No  socializing ! 
No  councils !  "  The  storm  broke.  A  new  Noske  cam- 
paign began.  The  seething  Ruhr  Revier  was  again 
taken.  Halle  was  cleaned  out  and  in  Berlin  savage 
street  fighting  raged  for  days.  Murder  and  death  were 
the  watchwords.  Barricades  were  stormed,  houses  de- 
molished. Human  beings  fell  like  flies.  The  Furies 
of  War  grew  hysterical.  The  mob  began  to  plunder. 
Vagabonds  and  ruffians  violated  the  lives  and  property 
of  others.  Noske  drove  in  with  a  heavy  fist.  He  led 
a  second  battle  of  Tannenberg.  No  quarter.  Wreathe 
the  laurel  about  his  brow,  ye  citizens,  ye  who  sat 
trembling  behind  your  stoves. 

If  it  were  only  not  for  the  epilogue :  with  militaristic 
snap  and  go  the  Government  troops  court-martialed  and 
shot  on  the  slightest  provocation;  there  were  painful 
incidents  without  substantial  justification.  Noske  had 
put  Berlin  under  martial  law  and  threatened  death  to 
everyone  caught  with  a  weapon  in  his  hands.  If  it  had 
only  stopped  at  this !     But  inferior  officers  and  leaders 

335 


LEADERS  OF  YESTERDAY  AND  TO-DAY, 

immediately  took  things  into  their  own  hands,  and  many 
an  innocent  victim  was  the  result. 

There  were  sharp  conflicts  between  Noske  and  Haase 
at  the  National  Assembly  on  this  account.  These  were 
not  mere  wordy  duels  with  pistol  and  sword ;  they  were 
a  battle  of  hand  grenades.  "  Liars  and  assassinators !  " 
shouted  the  extreme  left.  "  There  are  plain  everyday 
dogs,  and  there  are  swine,  bloodhounds,  and  Noske 
dogs,"  proclaimed  the  circulars.  And  Noske  screamed 
in  savage  excitement  from  the  Parliament  tribune:  "  I 
enter  a  complaint  against  all  incendiaries,  and  that  is 
what  Herr  Haase  and  all  his  friends  are.  The  blood 
that  has  been  spilled  be  on  your  own  heads ! ' 

In  answer  to  Haase's  accusation  that  he  had  over- 
stepped his  rights,  Noske  said:  "In  such  dangerous 
situations  it  is  not  paragraphs  that  count,  but  results !  " 

This  was  the  proclamation  of  war,  "Might  before 
Right."  This  was  the  speech  of  a  condottiere:  thesis 
and  antithesis.     Remember  Marius! 


(i) 


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